Srinagar, July 29: J&K CM Omar Abdullah didn’t go to meet governor N N Vohra first after he left the assembly.
He drove back home, drafted his resignation which is apparently so worded that it can be said to be ambigious about his insistence on immediate resignation and reached Raj Bhavan with state finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather and political advisor Devendra Rana to hand it in.
Vohra is said to have reasoned with the 39-year-old chief minister, urging him not to act emotionally. He is learnt to have told him that he would not accept the resignation until the allegation was probed and determined one way or the other and Omar should carry on with his work until then.
Omar has finally agreed to stay on provided a clear time frame is given for the probe. The CM hasn’t made a statement after that but he bared his mind — and anguish — in the assembly: “I know it’s a false allegation. But I want to resign until I am cleared of this false charge. I cannot work till I am proved innocent. This is a blot on my character…Under the law, one is innocent until proven guilty. But that’s for routine crimes. Since the allegations raise questions on my morality, I consider myself guilty until proven innocent.”
His resignation letter is said to be a little more nuanced. It said, “I will be grateful if you could inquire into the allegations against me in a time-bound manner and…if you are satisfied that there is any basis in these allegations please accept my resignation immediately.”
His tormentor Muzaffar Beig appeared unmoved by the drama. Reacting to the CBI’s denial of his claim, he said, ‘‘The agency is trying to cover up the issue as it has been doing since it was formed.’’
He added PDP leaders named in the CBI list had been denied party tickets in 2008 assembly elections. Beig said Farooq Abdullah’s name, too, figured in the list as entry No. ‘C-38’.
Already the CBI has arrested G M Mir and Raman Mattoo, both ministers in the former PDP government, besides Iqbal Khandey, the former principal secretary to then chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.
Meanwhile, Vohra has reached Delhi to discuss the simmering crisis with government leaders.
-Agencies