Five nominated additional MLAs may be added to Jammu and Kashmir this week as exit polls suggest the possibility of a hung assembly. The Congress-NC alliance as well as former Gupkar alliance member PDP have threatened to approach the Supreme Court if Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha takes any such decision amid government formation. The development came as Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference reiterated its desire for an alliance with the Mehbooba Mufti-led party.
“The Lieutenant Governor should be the first to stay away from the process because the government is being formed. It is the government’s job to nominate people and send it (nominations) to the Lieutenant Governor. This is the normal process. What they want to do, I though “If they do this (give powers to the LG) then we will go to the Supreme Court. If Bhagwan Saheb stays here, we will have to fight against all this,” Abdullah told reporters on Monday.
Exit polls have given a clear lead to the Congress-NC group, while emphasizing that no party will be able to secure a clear majority. PDP and various independent candidates may play the role of kingmakers after the results are declared on Tuesday. The possible appointment of five nominated MLAs may also favor the BJP and its allies.
Farooq Abdullah has repeatedly stressed that he would welcome an alliance with the PDP, regardless of numerical strength.
“We will take support (from PDP) even though we may not need it,” he said. Because if we want to move forward, we will have to move forward only together. We all will have to make efforts to save this state. This state is in great trouble. Educated youth have no jobs, inflation is skyrocketing, there is a drug menace,” he said on Monday.
The NC President also said that he is not averse to taking the support of independent MLAs but he will not ‘beg’ for it.
However, Omar Abdullah said that talk of a PDP alliance was “premature speculation” as the other party had not actually offered support. It is also not clear whether PDP’s support will be crucial for government formation as the votes are yet to be counted.
His son also criticized Lok Sabha MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid for suggesting a delay in government formation until statehood is restored in the region. The former chief minister claimed that these comments were ‘playing into the hands of the BJP’ as they were demanding extension of central rule in Jammu and Kashmir.
Abdullah said, “The man goes to Delhi for 24 hours and comes back to play straight into the hands of the BJP. If the BJP is not in a position to form the government then it would like nothing more than to extend central rule in Jammu and Kashmir ” Posted on X.
