House approves imposition of President’s Rule in J&K

New Delhi: As the Lok Sabha on Friday adopted a resolution on imposition of President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir, the Opposition said it was an “arbitrary” decision and “gross violation” of the Supreme Court judgment in the S.R. Bommai case. The government, however, maintained that it was committed to uphold democracy in the state.

The resolution was adopted by a voice vote. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan though allowed a discussion on the issue.

President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir follows if the Governor’s Rule extends beyond six months. The Statutory Resolution will now go to Rajya Sabha for approval.

During the discussion, Opposition parties, including Congress, Trinamul Congress and NCP questioned imposition of President’s Rule and dissolution of the J&K Assembly.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh replied that no party was in a position to form government even a day before December 19 when the governor took the decision. Mr Singh al-so rejected claims of Opp-osition parties that the BJ-P was propping up a reg-ional party to form government, saying if his party had such an intention, it would have done so within six months of the Governor’s Rule. “The government doesn’t conduct elections but the government is ready for elections. It is the responsibility of the Election Com-mission to hold elections... We are totally committed to democratic process,” he said.

The home minister said that soon after imposition of the Governor’s Rule in June, the governor’s repo-rt had indicated that no party or coalition in the state was in a position to form government.

Earlier, initiating the debate, Congress MP Sha-shi Tharoor accused J&K governor Satya Pal Malik of acting in “gross violation” of the apex court order that stated that whether an alliance has a majority or not can be decided only on the floor of the Assembly.