Jammu and Kashmir was put under governor's rule on Friday, even as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah said his party was in talks with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC) to form the government.
J&K has its own Constitution, making it the only state to have a provision for governor's rule, valid for six months at a time.
Political parties had time until January 19 to explore the possibility of forming a government in the state. But Governor N N Vohra recommended the Governor's rule in his report to the President after caretaker Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed his inability to continue. Abdullah blamed PDP patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed for pushing the state under the central rule as he has continued the deadlock over government formation to get a full six-year term as the CM.
The PDP said Abdullah forced the current situation, even as the parties had time until January 19. The developments indicated there might be little possibility of breakthrough in talks between BJP and PDP or BJP and NC. There is also a possibility that the Centre could appoint a new governor in the coming weeks in the state.
There is a government's view that J&K needs a "political governor" with an ability to arrive at a consensus and known for his "humane" approach to problems like militancy.
According to sources, the leadership is not keen to appoint a retired bureaucrat or an army officer. Vohra is a retired bureaucrat, while his predecessor S K Sinha was a retired army officer. Any decision on a possible successor to Vohra will be made after discussions with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leadership.
Shah told PTI in Hyderabad: "Our talks are going on with the two parties in Kashmir. We will let you know once there is a development. We are trying to form a BJP government in the state."
Abdullah said the state needed a full-time administrator. "For the @jkpdp to claim that my offer to them was a non-serious one is amazing. They know who the intermediary was so they should ask him," he tweeted.
The NC had offered support to the PDP, which has 28 MLAs, on December 23 when election results were announced. In another tweet, the former CM said, "Lastly, if @jkpdp has a govt in place before the 19th of Jan I'll publicly acknowledge that they were right & I was wrong. Let's see now."
Sources said the NDA government at the Centre had nothing against Vohra who was appointed governor in June 2008, and is on extension after having served his five year-term. Vohra, a former Union home secretary, was a member of the National Security Advisory Board and appointed the chairman of the National Task Force on Internal Security in 2000 by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. From 2003 until being appointed the governor in 2008, Vohra was the Centre's interlocutor to J&K.
