Jammu-Kashmir: Mehbooba Mufti caught off guard by Governor NN Vohra’s call on BJP pullout

“She was in her office looking at the files that had stacked up. Although the party was aware of the BJP ministers’ meeting in Delhi, there was no apprehension that the party would withdraw support. They didn’t drop any hint about this,” a senior PDP minister told The Indian Express. While some of the PDP ministers were at the civil secretariat, others were busy in meetings.

A senior PDP leader said that as soon as she got the news, Mehbooba called some senior party leaders to her office. “There was a brief discussion after which the Chief Minister left for her residence,” he said.

READ | Jammu and Kashmir looks at another stint of Governor’s rule

Mehbooba called a meeting of senior party leaders and ministers at her residence. She then faxed her resignation letter to Governor N N Vohra, and addressed a press conference.

READ | PDP-BJP alliance was a ‘Himalayan blunder’, suffering of Kashmiri people will now end: Ghulam Nabi Azad

In Delhi, senior BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta said his party ministers had sent their resignations to the Chief Minister. But PDP sources said they hadn’t received any information from the BJP, and some of the leaders learnt about the development through television channels.

READ | Muscular security policy will not work in Jammu and Kashmir: Mehbooba Mufti

However, a senior PDP minister claimed they had prior information that the BJP would pull out of the government. “The message had already gone to several quarters. We were ready for this,” he said. “We too could have withdrawn but we didn’t want to give the impression that Kashmiris are only fair weather friends”.

READ | Jammu-Kashmir: BJP pulls out of Mehbooba Mufti government, says alliance with PDP untenable

Saying there were several reasons for differences between the two coalition partners, he said one main factor was that BJP wanted to have a muscular policy in Kashmir.