J&K Assembly Dissolution: Story of a Fax Machine That Was Not Working

The 24-hour political tumult on Wednesday came to an end with Jammu & Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolving the State Assembly soon after People’s Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti faxed a letter to him staking claim to form the government. The PDP leader’s letter claimed the support of 56 MLAs to form the government, backing by National Conference and Congress.

However, Mufti maintained that her fax was not received after which she e-mailed and posted the letter on Twitter. In her tweet, Mufti said, “Have been trying to send this letter to Rajbhavan. Strangely the fax is not received. Tried to contact HE Governor on phone. Not available. Hope you see it @jandkgovernor.”

Meanwhile, the Governor told News18, “On Eid, no employee was near the fax machine . She (Mufti) should have approached me a day earlier or on Wednesday morning.” When asked how he released his official communication later, Malik said, “Machines at the Governor’s house do not work sometime. Sometimes, water geysers also do not work at Raj Bhavan,” News18 reported him as saying.

As per sources, Mufti’s letter sent jitters to the senior leadership of the BJP-ruled Central government, after which they issued instructions to party politician-turned-governor to use his powers to dissolve the Assembly, something that the key parties had been demanding for long. The press communique issued bythe Governor stated, “By virtue of powers vested upon me…I hereby dissolve the Legislative Assembly.”

Have been trying to send this letter to Rajbhavan. Strangely the fax is not received. Tried to contact HE Governor on phone. Not available. Hope you see it @jandkgovernor pic.twitter.com/wpsMx6HTa8

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) 21 November 2018

The Governor’s decision comes three days after Malik, at a book launch in New Delhi, had explicitly said that there were no plans to dissolve the Assembly soon. The Hindu quoted Malik as saying, “There are no plans to dissolve the Assembly. There are various civic issues which will be affected by this move.”

Political observers believe that the decision by the Governor goes against democratic norms, where the parties that stake claim to form the government where not given a chance to prove their majority in a floor test. They also alleged that by dissolving the J&K Assembly, Malik has chosen to go by the saffron party’s instructions rather than upholding the Constitution.

However, the Assembly’s dissolution seems to be a “blessing in disguise” for the PDP, NC and Congress. After the break-up of its alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party, the PDP has been facing issues within the party, with defectors threatening to form an alliance with People’s Conference’s Sajjad Lone. Recently, these speculations grew stronger after BJP hinted an alliance in the state with Sajjad Gani Lone as its Chief Ministerial candidate. Since then, several attempts have been made by the BJP to “break the regional parties, especially the PDP.” Dissolution of the Assembly has halted the BJP-backed People’s Conference attempts to form a government.

Mockery of Democracy?

As soon as the news of “grand alliance” became public, BJP leader Ram Madhav told reporters that the idea of alliance and formation of the government was at the behest of instructions given by Pakistan. He said, “PDP & NC boycotted local body polls last month because they had instructions from across the border. Probably they had fresh instructions from across the border to come together and form government. Why they did prompted Guv to look into the whole issue.”

Meanwhile, sources said the Congress might move the court today challenging the dissolution, wherein the parties were not even invited for a floor test.

Wishing anonymity, a local resident said, “The entire episode was a drama and there was no democracy in the first place. But that dissolution has underlined that Governor is hand in glove with BJP and they don’t want a solution to Kashmir but want to remain in power. It is indeed a mockery.”

Commentators said Wednesday’s development has made the people of Kashmir more hostile towards the Centre, and has also raised questions over the role of Governor among the people of the state.

J&K was put under Governor’s rule after the break-up of BJP-PDP alliance government in June 2018.