Governor Satya Pal Malik on Thursday defended his decision to dissolve the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, saying an impending alliance between the PDP, Congress and the National Conference was "opportunistic".
The Governor told the media that his Wednesday night decision was taken as per the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir.
"In the case of Jammu and Kashmir, I don't need to take permission from Parliament. I just need to inform the President about the decision," he said.
On Wednesday night, in a dramatic development, the Governor dissolved the Assembly after the PDP staked claim to form a government along with the Congress and with the outside backing of the National Conference.
In no time, Peoples Conference leader Sajad Lone made a counter claim to power with the backing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and rebel Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLAs.
Asked about the charge that the PDP and the National Conference got instructions from Pakistan to form a government, Malik said: "I don't say such things. I am in a responsible post. I won't say anything without evidence.
More From This Section
"This grand alliance was opportunistic. There was no agreement. Even one party was saying that there was no formal interaction among them to form the government."
Malik denied that he acted at the behest of the BJP.
"They (PDP, NC and Congress) know well what the BJP headquarters wanted. The BJP had a candidate here. If I would have heard the BJP, then I would have called their side. But I did what I thought was best according to the Constitution."
Malik alleged that for the last 15-20 days he was getting reports on horse-trading of MLAs.
"I had said this in the beginning that I would not support anybody underhand or by defection or who has been threatened. I wanted an elected government here.
"I had decided to dissolve the Assembly as the legislators of these parties were indulging in horse-trading... MLAs were being threatened... If I would have given an opportunity to anyone, more horse-trading would have been done. And the entire political and judicial system of the state would have been ruined," he said.
The Governor praised the security forces for bringing the situation under control in the state.
"The forces are safeguarding us and they have brought the situation under control in the Valley. There has been a drastic fall in the number of stone-pelting incidents."
--IANS
sq/mr/ahm