Jammu and Kashmir race on Twitter, WhatsApp ends with a fax that ‘hadn’t worked’ in the first place

Twitter and WhatsApp played a major role in the fast-paced developments of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday evening, as PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and People’s Conference leader Sajjad Lone raced to stake claim to power. But the fax machine at governor Satya Pal Malik’s office, both of them later complained, just wouldn’t work.

Mufti, who was ready with her letter that claimed the support of arch rival National Conference and Congress, turned to Twitter to deliver her claim, tagging the governor’s account. She said she had been trying to send her letter staking claim to the Raj Bhavan. But “strangely the fax is not received”. She tried to contact him by phone too, but he was “not available”.

But if Mufti was leaning on Twitter to deliver her letter, Lone picked up his phone and sent his letter over WhatsApp, claiming the backing of BJP’s 25 lawmakers and 18 other legislators, and got a prompt response from Jeevan Lal, the personal assistant to the governor. He then tweeted a screenshot of the WhatsApp acknowledgement.

However, both their claims “fell on deaf ears” as governor Malik decided to dissolve the assembly. A letter to this effect, signed by Umang Narula, the principal secretary to the governor, did the rounds on social media around half an hour later.

Almost an hour later, Mehbooba wondered how strange it was that the fax machine at “the governor’s residence didn’t receive our fax but swiftly issued one regarding the assembly dissolution”.

Jammu and Kashmir had been brought under governor’s rule in June after the BJP withdrew support to the coalition partner PDP. The Assembly, which had two more years to go, had been kept in suspended animation since then.