J&K had 13 CMs, eight spells of Governor's rule

Srinagar: Governor's rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday after the Bharatiya Janata Party, citing the larger national interest, pulled out from the coalition government with the Peoples Democratic Party.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti resigned on Tuesday as Chief Minister of the state .She had been the first woman among the 13 Chief Ministers of J&K. The state has come under Governor's rule eight times.

Mehbooba became chief minister in coalition with BJP after the death of her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed who was heading the coalition government following fractured mandate in 2014 state assembly elections. The PDP emerged single largest party with 28 MLAs followed by BJP 25 (all from Jammu region), National Conference (NC) 15 and 12 from Congress. Peoples Conference (PC) had two MLAs while CPI(M) one and there were four independents in the 87-member House.

Mehbooba resigned on Tuesday after BJP withdrew from the government. Governor N N Vohra after meeting leaders of all other political parties wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind to impose Governor's rule. President on Wednesday approved the recommendation and imposed Governor's rule from today itself.

From October 15,1947 to March 30,1965 there was a Prime Minister which was later changed as Chief Minister by the state legislature. However, Jammu and Kashmir High Court had said that the state legislature has no authority to change the name of Sadar-e-Riyasat and Wazir-e-Azam.

Dr Farooq Abdullah, president of the NC took over as the Chief Minister of the state three times. His father Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and PDP chieftain Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had become CMs twice each, Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq, Syed Mir Qasim, Ghulam Mohammad Shah and Ghulam Nabi Azad once each between March 30, 1965 to January 7, two years ago.

Mehr Chand Mahajan of Congress was the first Prime Minister of J&K from October 15,1947 to March 5, a year later.

Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah of National Conference was PM from March 5, 1948 before he was removed and sent to jail on August 9,1953.

Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad became PM the day Sheikh was removed and imprisoned on August 9,1953. Bakshi, who ruled for more than 10 years  after leaving Sheikh alongwith other MLAs, also formed parallel NC later. He was later removed following theft of Holy Relic of Prophet Muhammad from Hazratbal shrine which led to massive protests across the Kashmir valley for months.

Khawaja Shamasuddin served as Prime Minister of the state from October 12, 1963 to February 29,1964 before the majority NC members led by Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq joined Congress.

Sadiq was Congress PM on February 29,1964 to March 30, 1965 before the state legislature changed the name of Sadar-e-Riyasat to Governor and Wazir-e-Azam to Chief Minister.

Sadiq later became the first Chief Minister of the state on March 30, 1965 to December 12, 1971. Syed Mir Qasim took over as CM on December 12,1971 following the death of Sadiq. Qasim remained CM till February 25, 1975 before he stepped down and paved way for Sheikh Abdullah to become the Chief Minister of the state with the support of Congress following Indira-Sheikh accord.

Sheikh remained CM till March 26, 1977 before he lost the power after Congress withdrew support to him, resulting in imposition of Governor's rule from March 26 to July 9, 1977.

However, Sheikh returned to power with thumping majority after general elections in the state. He took over as CM on July 9, 1977 and continued till September 8, 1982 when he breathed his last.

Later his son Dr Farooq Abdullah was sworn-in as CM on September 8, 1982 to July 2, 1984 when his brother-in-law Ghulam Mohammad Shah deserted the party alongwith other MLAs and formed a coalition government with Congress. Shah rule ended on March 6,1986 when Congress withdrew support to him resulting in imposition of Governors rule again from March 6,1986 to November 7,1986.

Dr Abdullah became CM for the second time on November 7, 1986. However, he resigned following appointment of Jagmohan as Governor of the state despite his opposition. Militancy erupted in the state on January 19,1990.

Governor's rule was imposed on January 19, 1990 till October 6,1996 when NC returned to power with absolute majority after elections when militancy was at its peak in the state. Dr Farooq Abdullah took over as CM for the third time on October 9,1996 and continued till October 18, 2002.

Governor's rule was again imposed from October 18, 2002 to November 2, 2002 following fractured verdict as no party could get majority in the 87-member-House.

Later, PDP joined with Congress to form a government in the state with the understanding that both will head the dispensation for three years each. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed become the CM with Congress support on November 2, 2002 and after completing three years on November 2, 2005 handed over power to Ghulam Nabi Azad of Congress.

However, PDP withdrew support to Azad resulting in his resignation following massive protests across the valley on Amarnath land row. Governor's rule was again imposed on July 11, 2008 till January 9, 2009.

Assembly polls again threw a fractured verdict and nobody could reach the magic figure of 44 in the House. Later, NC joined forces with the Congress and finally formed a coalition government on January 5, 2009. Omar Abdullah took over as CM and completed complete six year term in office before fresh elections were held in the state.(UNI)