The political crisis deepened in Jammu & Kashmir after Omar Abdullah voiced his intent to step down as caretaker Chief Minister, compelling Governor NN Vohra to seek the Centre’s direction for the future course of action. The election results announced on December 23 threw a highly complex verdict and no tie-up could be cobbled up in the politically sensitive State.
Abdullah met Governor NN Vohra in New Delhi with a plea to relieve him of the responsibility he had taken up temporarily a day after poll results routed his party and its coalition partner the Congress. Vohra had asked him to function as caretaker Chief Minister until the new Government was sworn in.
Observers say that Abdullah’s decision is likely to deepen the political crisis in J&K and a spell of President’s Rule may not be ruled out. Abdullah threw the ball in the PDP’s court to explain the imminent implementation of Central rule referring to it as “the people with 28 MlAs & offers of support from two other parties”.
The PDP, however, described Abdullah’s step as “childish” that does not deserve a reaction at all. “We are not dictated by what Omar Abdullah does or says,” PDP’s chief spokesman Naeem Akhtar told The Pioneer.
Sources said that Vohra has sent a report to President Pranab Mukherjee with suggestions to deal with the political impasse. One of the suggestions includes imposing a spell of Governor’s rule to avoid a constitutional crisis as the political parties have failed to cobble up an alliance to stake claim for Government formation.
Government formation requires the support of 44 legislators in the 87-member Assembly but no party has reached the magic number. The PDP emerged as the single-largest party with 28 seats, followed by BJP with 25 seats.
Omar Abdullah confirmed his meeting with the Governor after he returned from london where he stayed with his ailing parents for more than a week. “Just to confirm, I did meet Guv Vohra last night and ask him to relieve me as caretaker CM. I had agreed to stay temporarily (sic),” Omar tweeted on Thursday.
He is arriving here on Friday to discuss the political situation with senior party colleagues. In a series of tweets Omar said that it was difficult for him to continue as caretaker Chief Minister with no authority. “Given the situation on the border with 10,000 displaced people, the hardships of winter and the continuing need for relief for the flood affected, I believe the interests of the State will only be served by a full time administrator & not a caretaker with no mandate to govern,” he said, apparently hinting at President’s Rule in the State.
Citing the inordinate delay in Government formation as another reason for his decision Omar said, “Today we seem even further away from that goal than we were ten days ago. It is now for the @jkpdp to explain to the people that with 28 MlAs & offers of support from 2 other parties why the State has central rule”, he tweeted.
Omar’s NC and Congress offered support to PDP for Government formation to keep BJP out of power. The PDP sought formal rather than verbal offers of support, which both parties have not initiated.
Observers say the situation has stark resemblance to the 2002 political scenario when a similar hung verdict complicated tie-up possibilities. Before the PDP and Congress cobbled up an alliance, the then caretaker Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had resigned.
Observers say that the emergence of BJP as a strong stakeholder has complicated the situation this time. “The BJP cannot be ignored but its inclusion in Government formation demonstrates a paradigm shift in the polity of J&K. Hence, taking a plunge is not as easy as it was in 2002,” said Professor Gul Wani who teaches Political Science at Kashmir University.