The Jammu & Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik unexpectedly dissolved the state legislative assembly late on November 21, 2018.
The move came hours after the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti staked claim to form a government with the backing of the National Conference (NC) and the Congress.
The governor cited,
"extensive horse-trading" and
The "impossibility" of forming a stable government by coming together of political parties with "opposing political ideologies".