Srinagar, November 22: Former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, as well as separatist-turned-CM hopeful Sajjad Lone, took to Twitter last night to inform Governor Satya Pal Malik that his fax machine is not working. Hours later, the stakeholders were dealt with a shock as the Governor announced the dissolution of the Jammu & Kashmir assembly.

Mehbooba Mufti, who heads the largest electoral group - the People's Democratic Party (PDP) - was the first to mark the complaint claiming that neither her fax has been delivered to the Governor, nor the Raj Bhawan has answered her phone calls. Jammu And Kashmir Assembly Dissolution: What it Means For PDP, NC And BJP.

Left with no other option, she tagged the Governor on Twitter and appealed him to take note of her government formation claim.

The PDP chief had by Monday evening secured the support of 28 of her own party lawmakers, along with 15 from the National Conference and 12 of the Congress.

However, a counter-claim was also laid by People's Conference chief Sajjad Lone, who is the lone MLA from his party. Lone said he is being supported by 25 legislators of the BJP, along with "18 other MLAs".

He took to Twitter after his attempt to reach out to the Raj Bhavan failed. Even Lone cited the failure of the FAX machine.

As the Governor refrained from issuing a reply either to Mehbooba or Lone, the former took a dig at Malik on Twitter, questioning whether the fax machine was deliberately turned dysfunctional.

Even as the tides were turned against the non-BJP parties, NC leader Omar Abdullah resorted to humour on social media.

The Governor on Thursday said no staff was available at his Office to receive the fax. "No one was there even to serve me food on Eid," he quipped while speaking to a news channel. Even if the fax would had been received by him, the Governor added, his decision to dissolve the assembly would had remained unchanged.

"Fax isn't an issue. Yesterday was Eid. Both of them are devoted Muslim & should know that offices are closed that day. Even my cook was on leave, let alone the person who handles fax. Even if I had received the fax, my stand would have been the same," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 22, 2018 11:25 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).