I did not act on BJP's behest, says J&K governor Satya Pal Malik after dissolving assembly

A day after the Jammu and Kashmir(J&K) assembly was dissolved, governor Satya Pal Malik said his decision was made in favour of the state and he was not acting on BJP's behest.

"Nobody gave me a list of MLAs," the governor said while declaring that he could not allow horse-trading in the assembly.

"Are government's formed through social media? I neither tweet nor see the tweets. I selected yesterday for the decision to dissolve the assembly as it was a holy day, it was Eid," he said on Mehbooba Mufti's letter sent to him in the form of a tweet

"It is the Election Commission's job to decide on the date of the elections," he said. "I did not act on BJP's behest," he added.

The J&K assembly was abruptly dissolved by the governor after the PDP staked claim to form a government with the backing of rival National Conference(NC) and the Congress. Another bid to form the government was made by two-member People's Conference.

The dissolution was announced by governor Satyapal Malik in a communique released by Raj Bhavan.

"Why will they go to court? They were demanding this for five months. I want that they go to court, it's their right, they should go," he said after some leaders expressed their willingness to challenge the governor's decision in court. 

Meanwhile, National Conference(NC) leader today accused the BJP of being behind the dissolution of J&K assembly which was announced by governor Satya Pal Malik on Wednesday night.

"J&K has been subjected to a lot of suffering," the former chief minister said, adding that talks were going on for an alliance. "We have interests of the people in mind," he asserted.

Omar said NC and PDP were in talks to form the next government in the state.

"I do not want to be chief minister," Omar told reporters at a press conference in Srinagar. He informed that the NC core group had held a meeting today to take stock of the situation.

Taking a jibe at the governor, Omar said fax machine had become the new political player in J&K. He said the BJP wanted elections in the state. 

The BJP said: "The proposed alliance between the Congress and the PDP broke up even before it was formed. They have taken contradictory positions on dissolution. One supports it and the other opposes it."

"The best option in such a scenario is to go in for a fresh election at the earliest. This assembly cannot produce a stable government," it added.