india

Updated: Nov 28, 2018 00:13 IST

People’s Conference chairman Sajjad Lone has said that he was the first to call up Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik to tell him about his intention to stake claim to form the government in the state.

Lone’s claim comes days after Malik dissolved the state assembly that was kept suspended since June, following claims for government formation by two groups — BJP-backed Lone and PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti with the support of NC and Congress on November 21.

“I want to put the record straight. On that particular day when we all staked a claim, I was the first one to talk to him on the phone and tell him that I want to stake a claim for government formation,” Lone said.

The drama began after that. The governor asked him to send a fax, but both he and Mufti claimed that the machine at the Raj Bhawan was not working.

“The fax would not go through,” Lone said. “I called the governor’s secretary who had earlier put me on to the governor. He would not take the call. For three hours, we tried and could not get through to any of the numbers of the Raj Bhawan.”

Lone said during this period, Mufti had put her letter on Twitter.

“I do not know whether she staked the claim on the basis of a potential claim that we were trying to make, or if she staked the claim on her own. There are some people who believe that on the receipt of information that we are going to stake a claim, Mehbooba Mufti immediately put up a claim on Twitter. This is the series of events,” Lone asserted.

“Whenever I said that I would stake a claim, it would be done under the ambit of a constitutional provision and would be totally legitimate. We had the numbers and would have emerged victorious in a constitutionally legitimate method. There should be no doubt about this,” he said.

Earlier in the day, it was reported that the governor had said that had he looked towards Delhi for instructions, Sajad Lone would have formed the government. He did not want to be remembered as a dishonest man and so, he dissolved the assembly.

Lone, on his part, said he cannot allow misrepresentation of facts daily in the media. “this vilification and distortion campaign has to end. The facts needed to be put on record and it is for others to uphold the truth. The truth shall prevail.”