Governor's House not the place for proving majority: Farooq Abdullah

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Friday questioned state Governor Satya Pal Malik's decision of dissolving the state assembly.

He asserted that despite the National Conference-People's Democratic Party-Congress alliance coming together to stake a claim in forming the government in the state, Governor Malik did not wait and dissolved the state assembly.

Speaking at a debate on the statutory resolution for the proclamation of President's Rule in Jammu and Kashmir in the Lok Sabha, Abdullah said: "The fax machine of Jammu and Kashmir Governor was not working. His phone was not working and I would like to say that Governor House is not the place to prove majority but the assembly is. Governor did not wait and dissolved it."

The 87-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was under suspended animation since June 19 when the PDP-BJP coalition government collapsed and the Governor dissolved the House late on November 21 night.

Malik's action came shortly after competitive claims were presented by PDP leader and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and People's Conference (PC) leader Sajjad Lone for the formation of a government in the state which is under Governor's rule since June.

While on the one side arch-rivals PDP and NC joined hands with the Congress to stake a claim for government formation, on the other side PC also staked the claim citing the support of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Governor Malik's action had triggered a major political row but he justified his decision by saying that he apprehended horse-trading for government formation. He stated that he did not want the formation of a government by any "unholy alliance".