Governor Vohra's afternoon phone call gave Mufti's CM tenure an abrupt end

Mehbooba Mufti's tenure as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister came to an abrupt end today with a call from Governor NN Vohra, who informed her that the BJP had pulled out of its alliance with the PDP, officials said.

It was a working day just as any other for Mehbooba, who was in her office in the civil secretariat when Chief Secretary BB Vyas received the phone call that signalled the end of her maiden tenure as chief minister, they said.

The governor asked Vyas where the chief minister was and asked him to immediately arrange a call with her, they said.

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This was minutes before BJP general secretary Ram Madhav addressed a press conference in the national capital around 2 pm to announce the decision.

Vyas duly arranged the call. The governor, according to officials in the know of developments, informed Mehbooba about the BJP's decision, which was conveyed to him in a letter sent by BJP state president Ravinder Raina along with the resignation letters of the BJP ministers.

Mehbooba, 59, listened to the news in silence, and after a pause said there was no need for talks with the BJP and she would be submitting her resignation, the officials said.

Soon after, Madhav made his announcement in Delhi, ending the uneasy, often fractious alliance between the BJP and the PDP and setting the stage for another round of governor's rule for the valley.

Jammu and Kashmir's outgoing Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti lashed out at the BJP today for pulling out of the alliance. Addressing a press conference, she said the BJP has betrayed the agenda of the alliance by pulling out of it. "PDP's agenda for the state was the one for boosting reconciliation through the alliance, the BJP betrayed the same," Mufti stated.

She further added that muscular policy in a state like Jammu and Kashmir, or a policy backed by force (sakhti), cannot succeed. "Peace and reconciliation is the only way forward," she noted.

Meanwhile, the state is already warming up for the imposition of Governor's rule eighth time in a row.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra has forwarded his report to the President of India for the imposition of Governor's rule under Section 92 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir.

Governor Vohra concluded his consultations with all major political parties in Jammu and Kashmir earlier today, ANI reported.

Jammu and Kashmir has come under Governor's rule on seven occasions before in the last four decades.

It will be for the fourth time that the state will be placed under central rule during NN Vohra's tenure as Governor. Vohra, a former civil servant, became the Governor on June 25, 2008.

(With inputs from agencies)