Jammu & Kashmir: All BJP Ministers Resign From Mehbooba Mufti Government

Srinagar, April 17: Days after two ministers of the Bharatiya Janata Party stepped out of the Jammu & Kashmir government over their participation in a rally organised in support of the Kathua rape accused, all other BJP ministers resigned from the Mehbooba Mufti-led regime.

The resignation was confirmed on Tuesday, hours after senior BJP leaders of the state met at the party's Jammu headquarters. The party was, however, yet to issue an official statement.

Reports claimed there is no imminent threat to the government in J&K, as the BJP is likely to continue supporting the PDP from outside. The resignations could be a strategy of the BJP to exert pressure on Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti ahead of the upcoming Cabinet reshuffle in the state.

In the 87-member J&K assembly, the PDP is the single-largest party with 28 MLAs, followed by the BJP with 25 legislators. The two parties inked a post-poll pact in 2014, which the PDP's late patriarch Mufti Muhammad Saeed termed as "an alliance between the north and south poles".

The government had appointed a total of 22 cabinet ministers, including 8 from the BJP and 13 from the PDP. One Independent MLA, Sajjad Lone, was accommodated under the BJP's quota. BJP was also offered the coveted post of Deputy CM, presided over by its veteran leader from Jammu, Nirmal Singh.

The two ministers who resigned from PDP-BJP government on Saturday are Chaudhary Lal Singh and Chander Prakash Ganga. The duo had attended a rally organised by the Hindu Ekta Manch, expressing solidarity with the accused arrested on charges of gangraping an eight-year-old migrant Muslim girl in Kathua, before bludgeoning her to death.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 17, 2018 09:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).