Cong blames Centre for dissolution of J-K assembly

Senior Congress party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government for the dissolution of Jammu and Kashmir State Assembly. However, the senior politician added that they have no complaints against state governor Satya Pal Malik.

Speaking to ANI, Azad alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tried to break the MLAs of other parties over the last five months- ever since they pulled out of the alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)- to form their own government.

"We do not have any complaints against the Governor. He is a very nice man. We have complaints against the central government that if they had to dissolve the assembly, they should have done it 4-5 months ago when they withdrew support from the PDP. When they (BJP) saw that another government could have been formed, the BJP dissolved the assembly. It is their mentality that only the BJP will form the government and not any other party," the senior Congress leader said.

On Wednesday, PDP leader Altaf Bukhari had said that his party, along with the National Conference (NC) and the Congress, were in talks to form an alliance to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir to protect the special status of the state.

While PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti wrote a letter to the state's Governor staking claim to form the government, Malik issued immediate orders to dissolve the state assembly late on Wednesday night.

Dissolution of the assembly implies the necessity to conduct elections in the state within the next six months.