Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal to support extension of President's Rule in Jammu & Kashmir

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Monday, while speaking in Rajya Sabha, said that the party will support the extension of President's Rule in Jammu & Kashmir. 

Trinamool Congress and Biju Janata Dal have also followed suit, stating that the parties will support in Rajya Sabha the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and extension of President Rule in the state, news agency ANI reported. 

The President's Rule in Jammu and Kashmir is ending tomorrow and will further be extended by six more months as recently announced by the Central government. 

On June 28, Lok Sabha approved the statutory resolution to extend President's Rule in Jammu & Kashmir with effect from July 3rd, 2019.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had moved a resolution earlier in the lower house and had said that the extension was essential to facilitate fresh Assembly elections in the state later this year.

The move was opposed by scores of regional parties as well as national parties including the Congress. Former J&K Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah criticised Shah’s argument in the House as an "unacceptable one". 

“So the Home Minister’s argument is that because the Congress has used Article 356 more times than anyone else the Modi government is justified in denying the people of J&K an elected government. That’s an unacceptable argument,” Abdullah had tweeted.

The Congress strongly opposed the extension, blaming the "incompatible" alliance of BJP and PDP for the current security situation in the state.

"Today the situation is such that we have to extend the President's Rule in Jammu and Kashmir for every six months. Its roots are in the incompatible alliance of PDP and BJP in 2015," Congress leader Manish Tewari said in the Lok Sabha on June 28. 

Meanwhile, Shah on Monday said the government has no other option but to extend President's Rule in Jammu and Kashmir as the Election Commission wants to hold Assembly elections in the state by the end of 2019.

He was speaking in Rajya Sabha after moving a statutory resolution to extend President's Rule for another six months, starting July 3. 

He also moved the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill that proposes to provide reservation to people living in the areas along the border with Pakistan on par with residents of areas near the Line of Actual Control.

The President's Rule was implemented in the state in June last year following the collapse of the PDP-BJP alliance. The State Assembly, initially kept in suspended animation was dissolved by Governor Satya Pal Malik in November.

(With inputs from ANI)