Surprised Mehbooba Mufti resigns

Srinagar: After the BJP pulled out of the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, a surprised Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday submitted her resignation to Governor N.N. Vohra.

Immediately after she learnt about the Bharatiya Janata Party's decision, Mehbooba Mufti rushed to Raj Bhawan.

Later she called an emergency meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In a surprise development, after summoning all its Ministers in the state government to New Delhi, the BJP announced that it had decided to exit from the PDP-BJP coalition.

BJP leader Ram Madhav said the continuation of the BJP in the government had become untenable. "We have, therefore, decided to pull out of the ruling coalition."

He said the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir had worsened to such a level that keeping the integrity of the county in mind the decision was taken to end the alliance.

Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta, a senior BJP leader, said that the resignations of all BJP Ministers had been sent to the Chief Minister.

"The Governor is being intimated of the decision and it is now for the Governor to decide the next constitutional step in the state," Gupta said.

After the 2014 Assembly elections, the PDP and the BJP cobbled up a coalition government based on a mutually agreed agenda of alliance.