Satya Pal Malik is Centre's slave, says Farooq Abdullah

A day after the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was dissolved by Governor Satya Pal Malik, National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah claimed that the Governor was just a "slave" of the central government.

"It (dissolution of state assembly) proves that he (Satya Pal Malik) is just a slave of the Centre. If the Centre tells him to sit he will sit and if they tell him to stand up he will do the same. He didn't dissolve the house earlier when we requested while he waited for so long only for the trading of MLAs to be done for the formation of BJP government," Abdullah told reporters here, adding that the institution of Governor now needs to have a relook.

Reacting to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary Ram Madhav's remark on NC and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stitching an alliance on the basis of instructions from across the border, Abdullah said that the NC has never waited for Pakistan's signal.

"Madhav should apologise not only to the people of Jammu and Kashmir but also to the people of India," he added.

On Wednesday, Malik dissolved the Assembly minutes after PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti wrote to the Governor staking claim to form the state government in alliance with the NC and Congress.

A number of leaders have condemned the governor's decision to dissolve the assembly abruptly while terming the decision as a "politically-motivated move."

Earlier in the day, Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury claimed that Malik was acting as the political arm of the current dispensation, which does not want normalcy to be restored in a state ruled by any party other than the BJP.

He further said that Malik failed to uphold the Constitution as he should have called the group to prove its strength on the floor of the House rather than dissolving the Assembly.

Meanwhile, CPI leader D.Raja termed Malik's decision as "undemocratic" and "unacceptable" and questioned why the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was kept in a state of suspended animation for such a long period.

Furthermore, Raja demanded that President Ram Nath Kovind should take note of the situation and sack the Governor. "Governor plays at the hands of the BJP and acts on the behest of the Union government. President must take note and immediately call him back or sack him," he said.