By IANS,
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra Thursday turned down Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s resignation he had submitted Tuesday after the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) linked him to a 2006 prostitution racket.
The rejection of Abdullah’s resignation triggered jubilation as hundreds of slogan shouting National Conference supporters gathered outside his residence in the evening.
“I am happy I have been proved innocent,” a relaxed Abdullah told reporters after Vohra sent a communique asking him to continue as the chief minister.
The governor said there was no reason for Omar to resign after he got the matter probed by the union home ministry, and Omar had been found innocent as there was no substance in the allegations.
“You must continue to work vigorously as the chief minister of the state,” said the governor’s missive to the chief minister.
Abdullah on Tuesday submitted his resignation to Vohra, saying the allegations levelled against him by the PDP should be probed and if found true, the governor must immediately accept his resignation.
Giving him a clean chit, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had said the Central Bureau of Investigation had concluded the case and Abdullah’s name “does not figure in the list of the 17 accused chargesheeted”.
“There was never any truth in the allegations levelled against Omar Abdullah. (PDP leader) Muzaffar Hussain Baig is in the habit of levelling allegations against political rivals and then withdrawing them,” said Forests Minister Mian Altaf Ahmad, who is a senior National Conference leader.
Abdullah is expected to attend his office Friday.
“It will be business as usual for Omar from tomorrow,” a close aide of the chief minister said.