Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad | Photo Credit: ANI

Jammu/Srinagar: A day after the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir was dissolved on Wednesday night following the two rivalling claims to form the government in the state, reactions are coming in thick and fast on the unexpected political developments. J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik has justified dissolving the state Assembly, saying he could not have allowed the formation of any government in the state with “underhand defection and horse trading”.

On Tuesday, the Peoples Democratic Party led by former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti had staked claim to form the government, claiming it had the support of the National Conference and the Congress. Shortly, the Governor received another bid from the two-member People's Conference which claimed to have the backing of the BJP and 18 MLAs from other parties.

Here are the latest developments from Jammu and Kashmir:

* You have CBI, IB, RAW, Governor. So, you will have to prove this charge or else you must apologise - J&K Congress chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir says on Ram Madhav's statement. "Probably they had fresh instructions from across the border to come together and form government".

* Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad blames the Centre for the developments that have taken place in Jammu and Kashmir over the past few hours. "We don't have any complaints from the Governor. He is a very nice man. We have complaints from the Central government that if they had to dissolve the Assembly, they should've done it 4-5 months ago when they withdrew support from the PDP . For these 4-5 months, the BJP tried to form their own government but they didn't have majority. So they tried to break MLAs from other parties. When they saw that another government could have been formed, BJP dissolved the Assembly," Azad said.

* Meeting of the BJP core group over dissolution of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is underway in Jammu. BJP state president Ravinder Raina and former J&K Deputy CM Nirmal Singh is also present.

* Omar says the elections in Jammu and Kashmir should be held along with the 2019 Lok Sabha elections if not before.

* Omar Abdullah says "nobody ever suggested that we would be fighting polls together. This arrangement was to protect J&K from the current mess. I don't believe that NC, PDP & Congress fighting elections together will in any way benefit J&K because legitimate opposition voices are essential. We don't want to create a situation like 1987 where all political parties in Diwali come together and the only space that remains is for the fringe. As I said to Mehbooba Mufti ji on Twitter yesterday, we have to fight another day, good luck to her, good luck to us".

* "Why will they go to court? They have been demanding this for the past five months. I want that they go to court, it's their right, they should go. Are governments formed through social media? I neither tweet nor see the tweets. I selected yesterday for the decision (dissolution of Assembly) as it was a holy day, it was Eid. Election Commission will decide when the polls will be held," the Governor said further.

* Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik is also addressing the press. He comments on the fax machine controversy: "Fax isn't an issue. Yesterday was Eid. Both of them (Mehbooba and Omar) are devoted Muslims and should know that the offices are closed on 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."

* Commenting on the fax machine controversy, Omar Abdullah says it's a bizarre fax machine where incoming fax fails to get delivered but an outgoing fax can be sent. "We can joke about it, but this should be investigated," he says. "Legally, we don't have a case to make. As I don't have a document on which to claim the Governor ignored what we had to say. My conversation was with the PDP. It's for the PDP to decide whether it wants to take legal recourse. I didn't provide documentary support," says Omar Abdullah.

* Omar Abdullah challenges senior BJP leader to prove he and the other parties acted at the behest of Pakistan. The NC leader says Ram Madhav must apologise if he can't prove the allegations he has levelled. "You are disrespecting sacrifices of my colleagues who refused to dance at Pakistan's instructions and died," Omar adds.

* Omar Abdullah says the Governor has alleged horse trading in his justification for dissolving the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. We urge him to provide proof for the same.

* Omar Abdullah says they had been telling the Governor that uncertainty was not good for the state of Jammu and Kashmir. We were not in favour an alliance with the PDP and wanted fresh polls, but that was not happening.

* National Conference leader and former J&K CM Omar Abdullah is addressing the press now. He has dared the BJP to provide evidence for alleging that the NC, along with the PDP and the Congress, had received instructions from across the border (Pakistan) to stake the claim and form the government in the state.

* These are the forces which do not believe in grassroot democracy. When they realised that power was getting away from them, they formed an unholy alliance and approached me. I have not favoured anyone. I have done what was in the best interests of the people of the state – Governor Satya Pal Malik

* I had been receiving complaints from the past 15 days about horse-trading and that MLAs were being threatened. Mehbooba ji herself complained that her MLAs were being threatened. The other party said there are plans of distribution of money. I couldn't have allowed all this to happen - J&K Governor

* I have been saying it from day one of my appointment that as Governor, I'm not in favour of the formation of any government in the state with underhand defection and horse trading. I would instead want an election to be held and that an elected government rules in the state - J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik

* BJP leader Ram Madhav alleges the PDP and the NC probably had instructions from across the border (Pakistan) to stake a claim and form the government in Jammu and Kashmir. “The PDP and NC boycotted local body polls last month because they had instructions from across the border. Probably, they had fresh instructions from across the border to come together and form the government. What they did, prompted the Governor to look into the whole issue,” he said. “Only Governor can answer why was the fax at the Raj Bhawan not working. Only he should answer. But this is a lame excuse on the part of Madam Mehbooba. In the letter, she never claimed that she will form the government. She said ‘I'll come and see you and stake the claim’. It was all a drama,” Madhav further claimed.

* Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina has favoured holding elections in Jammu and Kashmir along with the Lok Sabha elections next year. “The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called an important meeting with all its MLAs today and we will decide the future course of action. We wish that the Assembly Elections in J&K should be conducted along with the Parliament Elections,” he said.