J& K gov Malik
Mr Malik at another event on Saturday had said had he “looked to Delhi”, he would have had to install a government led by Sajad Lone, a claim which the opposition said on Tuesday vindicated its charge he was under pressure to put in place a “BJP- supported government”.
Though there was no reaction from the Centre or the BJP to the claim made by Mr Malik, who said history would have remembered him as a “dishonest man” if he had asked People’s Conference leader Mr Lone to form the government, the chiefs of Peoples Democratic Party and National Conference — Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah — complimented the governor for not taking “instructions” from Delhi thereby stopping the installation of a government of the “BJP and its proxies”.
However, Mr Lone claimed misrepresentation of facts and gross distortion of “certain events” and said “We remain committed to offering an alternative to the traditional political system of exploitation, arrogance, entitlement and blackmail and will leave no stone unturned to rid the state of the tyranny of dynastic misrule and despotism”. Mr Malik had abruptly dissolved the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly last week after the PDP staked claim to form a government with the backing of rival NC and the Congress.
This was followed by another bid from the twomember People’s Conference led by Mr Lone which claimed the support of the BJP and 18 legislators from other parties.
During a pre- convocation academic conclave of ITM University in Gwalior, he said, “Delhi ki taraf dekhta toh muje Lone ki sarkar banana padhti aur mein ithihas mein ek bayiman aadmi ke tor pe jana jata... ( Had I looked to Delhi, I would have had to install a government led by Lone, and history would have remembered me as a dishonest man).”
“Therefore, I ended up the matter. Whosoever wants to scold, can do so now but I am convinced that whatever I did, was right,” he said in his address after noted journalist Ravish Kumar had pointed out in his speech about faulty fax machine.
Governor’s rule was clamped in the state on June 19 for a six- month period following the collapse of the PDP- BJP coalition government after the saffron party withdrew support.