Srinagar, Jammu, July 5:As violence over the Amarnath shrine board land controversy continued in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, the struggling Ghulam Nabi Azad Government suffered another setback, with the National Conference announcing that it would vote against it in Monday’s floor test in the Assembly.

With its 24 legislators, the NC is the single largest party in the House. After a meeting of NC legislators, the party’s chief whip, Mubarak Ahmad Gul, issued a three-line whip asking them to vote against the motion.

Sources said Azad and his allies were hopeful that the NC top leadership would bail out the Government from the crisis following the PDP’s withdrawal of support. Azad may find it hard to arrange the magical figure of 44 to win the trust vote, and is reportedly banking on Independents, two CPI(M) members and some “disgruntled” PDP leaders.

Meanwhile, the Government struggled to maintain peace, with the Army foiling a major plot to target the Amarnath Yatra. A remote-controlled IED explosive was recovered in Ramban on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. While curfew continued in Jammu, Bhaderwah, Samba and Kathua, people were on the streets defying the restrictions.

Clashes between protesters and police were reported from various places in the city and its outskirts, in which more than three dozen people were injured. The protesters reiterated their demand “to restore the sanctity of the Amarnath Shrine Board” and sacking of Governor N N Vohra.

The petrol tankers’ association continued to block supply to Kashmir for the fifth day.

BJP national president Rajnath Singh, who reached Jammu today along with party leader Arun Jaitley, said the party will rake up the cancellation of land transfer to the shrine board from ‘Sansad to Sadak’, for it had betrayed the faith and belief of the nation.

“It is not just a matter of Hindu sentiments, or an issue of only one particular religion... This is a national issue in which the country’s identity has been put at stake,” he said. Blaming Article 370 for the row, Singh talked of the “unholy journey of 58 years from special status to separatism” that had emboldened some to work towards destroying all national links.

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