Congress blames Centre, Governor Satya Pal Malik of horse-trading in J&K

The Congress has blamed the Centre and BJP of indulging in horse-trading to gather enough support to form its government in Jammu and Kashmir.

After J&K Governor Satyapal Malik dissolved the State Assembly on Wednesday, Congress leader and former J&K chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad absolved the Governor of wrongdoing. He blamed the PM Modi government and BJP for trying to break MLAs from other parties. "We don't have any complaints for the Governor. We have complaints for the Central government. If they had to dissolve the Assembly, they should have done it 4-5 months ago when they withdrew support from the PDP," he said.

"For these 4-5 months, the BJP tried to form their own government but they didn't have a majority. So they tried to break MLAs from other parties. When they saw that another government could have been formed, BJP dissolved the Assembly," Azad said.

However, other Congress leaders were unsparing toward the Governor. "The formation (People's Conference and BJP alliance) which had only 30 MLAs was being facilitated by the Governor directly or indirectly to increase their number to 50," alleged state Congress President GA Mir.

Pointing finger at Governor's role, former Union minister P Chidambaram said, "The Westminster model of democracy is outdated. Like in all other matters, it is the Gujarat model that has appealed to the J&K governor."

Reacting strongly to BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav's statements, Congress media in-charge, Randeep Surjewala asked if Madhav received instructions from across the border when he constituted unholy alliance with PDP in the presence of Modi Ji.