After consulting leaders from all the major political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, Governor Narinder Nath Vohra on Tuesday forwarded his report to the President of India for the imposition of Governor's Rule under Section 92 of the Constitution.
This came after Mehbooba Mufti resigned as Jammu and Kashmir's Chief Minister earlier in the day following the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) exit from its alliance with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
"I have submitted my resignation (as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir) to the Governor. The alliance was formed against the wishes of the people, yet Mufti Mohammad Sayeed formed this alliance with a vision. We though BJP is a very big party, which came to power on a strong mandate. We thought this (alliance) would help us solve the different issues of the state," Mufti said in a press conference here.
She added that the basic motive of the alliance was "reconciliation, dialogue with the people of Kashmir, promoting confidence-building measures and good relationships with Pakistan."
"All these were the agendas of the alliance. When the BJP and PDP got the mandate in Jammu and Kashmir, the biggest apprehension in people's mind was over Article 370, special status to the state," Mufti further said.
The BJP's decision apparently came after its President Amit Shah held a meeting with the party's Jammu and Kashmir cabinet ministers.
Citing examples of the growing acts of "terrorism, violence and radicalisation" in the state over the past few years, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav, while addressing a press conference in the national capital, said that the party was left with no other option, but to discontinue its alliance with the PDP.
"We have taken a decision, it is untenable for BJP to continue in alliance with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir, and hence we are withdrawing," Madhav said.
The BJP and PDP formed a coalition government in 2015 after the state elections threw up a hung assembly. However, both of them were ideologically divided on a variety of issues.
The BJP had 25 seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, while the PDP had 28.
This will be the fourth time in the last 10 years if a Governor's rule is imposed in Jammu and Kashmir.
It was imposed in July 2008, following the resignation of then chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in the wake of the PDP pulling out of the coalition government with the Congress.
The state was under Governor's rule in December 2014, following the hung verdict in the assembly elections that year.
Governor's rule was again imposed in the state in January 2016 following the death of then chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, as his daughter Mehbooba Mufti seemed reluctant to continue the alliance with the BJP.
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