Omar resigns, Governor asks him to continue

A M Sofi
Srinagar, July 28 (PTI) On a day of high drama, Omar
Abdullah, Chief Minister of India's northern state of Jammu
and Kashmir, Tuesday tendered his resignation to state
Governor N N Vohra asking him to go into a senior People's
Democratic Party (PDP) leader's allegation of his involvement
in the 2006 sex scandal and accept it if there was any basis.

The Governor is reported to have observed that he would
be able to consider Omar's resignation only after being fully
informed about the details of the allegation against him and
verifying its basis.

The Governor has asked Omar to continue to discharge his
responsibilities as Chief Minister till a final decision is
taken, a Raj Bhavan spokesperson said in a statement.

Vohra, who was on his way to the airport to leave for
Delhi to attend to certain engagements, deferred his departure
on receiving a message that the Chief Minister wanted to him
urgently.

The spokesperson said Omar requested the Governor to
enquire on a time-bound basis into the allegations made
against his moral character by former Deputy Chief Minister
Muzzafar Hussain Beigh, a PDP MLA, in the assembly today and
to "immediately accept his resignation in case the Governor is
satisfied that there is any basis therein."

An emotional Omar drove to the Governor's residence at 3
PM (local time) shortly after announcing in the assembly that
he will submit his resignation and stay out of office till his
name is cleared, refusing to yield to pleas by National
Conference and Congress MLAs not to step down.

"Those who lead must not only be clean but also look to
be clean. At the end of the day one has is one's personal
credibility and self respect. Both of these Mr.Beigh tried to
snatch from me through the charges he levelled," Omar said in
his resignation letter.

"I would be grateful, if you could enquire 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," he said.

Omar said he wanted to keep his conscience clean and

did not want to carry this stigma on his mind "because I have
always believed that politics should be clean and based on
high stanrdards of morality".
"I will always continue to strive for rich traditions

which I have inherited from my grandfather Sheri-i-Kashmir
Sheikh Mohammad Badullah and my father Dr.Farooq Abdullah", he
said.
Speculation that he will replace his son as CM were
brushed aside by Farooq, saying "there is no truth in it".
Farooq said Omar had taken the decision as he felt his honour
was at stake.

The whole drama began today when Beigh alleged that
Omar was involved in the infamous Srinagar sex scandal, which
was investigated by the CBI.

The scandal surfaced in 2006 when police arrested a
woman, Sabina. During interrogation, she told police that she
used to send girls including minors to politicians and senior
bureaucrats and policemen, triggering a political storm in the
state.

Beigh claimed he had a list of people involved in the
scandal in which Omar figured at No.102 while his father
Farooq Abdullah's name was at serial number 38.

In New Delhi, Home Minister P Chidambaram said there
is one case in which the FIR was registered on March 14, 2006.
The CBI investigated the case and filed a chargesheet against
17 accused. The case is now before the District and Sessions
Judge in Chandigarh.

"The CBI has concluded the investigations. Omar
Abdullah's name does not figure in the 17 accused,"
Chidambaram said.

CBI sources also said there was no such list as alluded
by Beigh and that all necessary action in the case had been
taken. Two former Ministers of PDP-Congress Government--G A
Mir and Raman Mattoo -- and Iqbal Khandey, a former aide of
the then Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed, were among those
arrested.

An upset Omar said in the assembly,"I know it is a
false allegation. But I want to resign. Till I am cleared of
this false allegation, I cannot work....It is a blot on my
character.

"Any amount of investigation by the home department
will not not help," the 39-year-old National Conference leader
said, a statement that shocked his party MLAs and Ministers.

Omar was accompanied by Farooq, who is a Union Minister,
to Raj Bhavan besides his political advisor Davender Rana.

The MLAs and Ministers tried to physically restrain Omar
from going out of the assembly, telling him not not to resign
and that the party would not not accept it.

Omar, who came to power in January this year at the
head of a NC-Congress coalition, was virtually forced to
take his seat by the ruffled members but he got up to shout at
them saying "allow me to take this first step".

Rana said the entire legislative party of the National
Conference and the Congress tried hard persuade Omar not to
resign. "We all stood up for him...but he said no".

Referring to the CBI probe into the scandal and
asserting that the guilty had not been punished, Beigh said
in the assembly, "I have to say with regret, there is the
name of Omar Abdullah, son of Farooq Abdullah, in the list. He
has lost the moral authority to rule the state. He must
resign."


The issue figured shortly after the Question Hour ended
in the House which Monday witnessed pandemonium after PDP
leader Mehbooba Mufti wrenched a mike from the Speaker's
podium protesting over the Shopian rape and murder issue.

In his response, an emotionally-charged Omar, said
he had not expected "things to fall to such depths".

National Conference coalition partner Congress
described the "crisis" as temporary and said there is no
need for Governor's rule as a solution would be found.

"By giving his resignation, he is standing on a high
moral ground... He is confident that he will win both
politically and morally," state Congress chief Saifuddin Soz
told reporters. PTI SKL