Mehbooba Mufti was in her office when she received a phone call from the Governor
Highlights
- Ms Mufti was in her office when she received a phone call from Governor
- The BJP did not inform Mehbooba Mufti of the break-up first
- Soon after Governor's call, she went to his residence Raj Bhavan, quit
The BJP's decision to withdraw support from the Jammu and Kashmir coalition caught Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti by surprise, suggested leaders of her People's Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday. Ms Mufti was in her office when she received a phone call from Governor NN Vohra. The BJP, her coalition partner of three years, was not the one to inform her of the break-up.
Soon after the governor's call, Ms Mufti went to his residence Raj Bhavan and resigned.
Then she reportedly called an emergency meeting of the PDP. Sources said this morning, she had even accepted an invite to a lunch.
When asked by NDTV this evening if the Governor was informed first and not Ms Mufti, outgoing deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta said, "First decisions are taken and then people are informed. We informed the Governor... by the time the message went (to Mehbooba Mufti), she had resigned."
Kavinder Gupta, earlier in the day, said that the resignations of all BJP Ministers had been sent to the Chief Minister.
That Ms Mufti was caught off-guard was also indicated by her predecessor Omar Abdullah of the National Conference, who said the "rug had been pulled from under her feet".
"She was cutting ribbons while the BJP was cutting her legs out from under her. How I wish she had left with her head held high and her dignity intact! She was J&K's CM, not of the BJPDP (sic)" he tweeted.
Omar Abdullah said he had advised her to exit the coalition earlier but she didn't listen.
Amid deteriorating ties over the past few weeks, the BJP and the PDP were seen to be playing the waiting game.
This morning, when the BJP summoned all its Jammu and Kashmir ministers to Delhi for a meeting, there was no clear sign of an imminent bomb-shell.
BJP leader Ram Madhav said BJP continuing in the government had become untenable. "We have, therefore, decided to pull out of the ruling coalition."
He said the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir had worsened to such a degree that the decision had to be taken "for the sake of the country's integrity".
After the 2014 Assembly elections, the PDP and the BJP cobbled up a coalition government based on a mutually agreed agenda of alliance.