Omar Abdullah calls for dissolution of Jammu & Kashmir assembly, fresh elections in state

SRINAGAR: National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah today called for immediate dissolution of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and holding of fresh elections in the state.

In a surprise move, the BJP  pulled out of the three-year-old ruling coalition with the PDP in the state that was placed under Governor's rule this morning.

"The J&K state assembly should be dissolved immediately & fresh elections should take place as soon as appropriate. The former DCM has admitted that BJP can't be trusted not to horsetrade for Govt formation (sic)," Omar tweeted.

The former chief minister was reacting to BJP leader and former deputy chief minister (DCM) Kavinder Gupta's reported statement that his party was "working on something".

"I don't think a new government will be formed anytime soon. Uncertainties are there, but we are working on something and people will get to know about it," Gupta had reportedly said.

The NC leader claimed that Gupta's statement hinted at the BJP's attempts to break other parties to form a government in Jammu and Kashmir.

"What do you mean 'we are working on something'? The only 'something' would be to break other parties & make up the numbers to form a BJP Govt. Has the former DCM inadvertently spilled the beans?" Omar asked on Twitter.

On a news report about Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh not being kept in the loop about the BJP's decision to pull out of the government, Omar tweeted, "If this story is true & @HMOIndia didn't know about the impending demise of the BJPDP alliance then the fact that it caught me & my colleagues by surprise is really no big deal."