Article 370 provisions scrapped: J&K Assembly Nirmal Singh removes state flag from his official vehicle

“When we were in government (PDP-BJP coalition government first headed by late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and later his daughter Mehbooba Mufti), we had to fly state flag with a heavy heart as it was our constitutional compulsion,’’ he said.

“It had been our national resolve which has come true. For it, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and many Praja Parishad activists had laid down their lives,’’ he added.

With this, Singh became the first Constitutional functionary to remove state flag from his official vehicle.

After 2014 assembly elections, BJP had entered into a coalition with PDP for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir. However, in June 2018, BJP pulled out of the coalition government headed by Mehbooba Mufti resulting in its fall nearly three years ahead of scheduled term bringing governor’s rule in the state.

In November last, in the wake of claims and counter-claims of government formation by rival political combines, Governor Satya Pal Malik unexpectedly dissolved the state legislative assembly saying there were possibilities of horse-trading.

Meanwhile, government sources said after the abrogation of Article 370 provisions, state flag becomes a non-entity. However, it will be removed from official vehicles once the official notification is issued in the matter.