Srinagar: When President Pranab Mukherjee accepted the Centre's recommendation for Governor's Rule in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, it was for the sixth time that the state had gone under direct central rule. The Governor's Rule was imposed in the state after the assembly election results on December 23 threw up a hung assembly with no party or combination of parties able to stake claim for government formation and caretaker Chief Minister Omar Abdullah asking to be relieved from the duties with immediate effect on January 7.
The PDP emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats in the 87-member house in the staggered elections held over five of the last six weeks of 2014. BJP was close second with 25 seats followed by National Conference (15 seats), Congress (12 seats) and others (seven seats).
If the political parties are able to cobble up an alliance within the next six months, it will be for the fourth consecutive time that a democratically elected government in the state was preceded by a spell of Governor's Rule. The Governor's Rule was imposed for the first time during the tenure of Governor L K Jha in March 1977 when Congress withdrew support to the then government headed by National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.
Abdullah was installed as the Chief Minister of the state following the Indira-Sheikh Delhi Accord in 1975. The tallest leader of the state returned to power with a thumping majority in the subsequent elections held in July 1977. Direct central rule was imposed in the state for the second time in March 1986 when Congress withdrawn support to the minority government headed by Abdullah's son-in-law Ghulam Mohammad Shah.
Shah had engineered a split in National Conference in 1984 to form his own government with Congress support.
