Dissolved assembly due to impossibility of forming stable government: Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik

Hours after dissolving the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, Governor Satya Pal Malik on Wednesday issued a statement clarifying his decision, as reported by news agency ANI.

According to an official statement, he took the decision due to "the impossibility of forming a stable government by the coming together of political parties with opposing political ideologies, including some which have been demanding the dissolution of the Assembly, reported ANI.

He also pointed out that the experience of the past few years reflects that "with the fractured mandate which is currently in the Assembly, it is impossible to form a stable government comprising like-minded parties.

The governor dissolved the assembly shortly after Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti wrote a letter to him staking claim to form the government in the state in alliance with the National Conference (NC) and the Congress party. However, Mehbooba said that she failed to get through the governor via fax and hence shared a copy of the letter on Twitter.

BJP ally Sajid Lone of the People`s Conference also made claim to form the government.

Malik said that "the coming together of such parties in a grouping is nothing but an attempt to gain power rather than to form a responsive government."

He further stated that the dissolving of the assembly was important amid the reports of extensive horse trading and possible exchange of money in order to secure the support of legislators belonging to widely diverging political ideologies just to be able to form a government.

"Such activities are not healthy for democracy and vitiate the political process," he added.

Citing Jammu and Kashmir`s security scenario, Malik stated that there is a need to have a stable and supportive environment for security forces which are engaged in extensive anti-militancy operations and are gradually gaining control over the security situation.

"The Governor came to the conclusion that, in this background, he has satisfied himself that the best course of action is to dissolve the assembly so as to provide stability and security to the state and hold elections at an appropriate time so that a government with a clear mandate is duly formed," the statement read.

with ANI inputs