In order to quell the demands of the disgruntled National Conference (NC) legislators, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah offered to resign during a meeting with them on Friday at Gupkar.
However, the legislators and national conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah told the chief minister that they do not have any issues with him.
The CM conveyed to them that he is ready to resign. Soon after the cabinet expansion, several senior NC legislators criticised the move and later held a series of meetings, during which they discussed issues concerning the party and submitted a charter of demands to be presented to the party president. The legislators also discussed with the leadership their inability to fulfil the promises made to the people who have given them a huge mandate. In the meeting, the legislators were assured that a similar meeting will be arranged with the chief minister’s advisor, Nasir Aslam Wani where he could explain his position.
In the two-hour-long meeting at Gupkar, at the beginning of the meeting with the disgruntled legislators, Omar Abdullah told the legislators how difficult it was to run the government in the UT setup. Omar told the legislators that he is aware of the challenges his government is facing, yet they went public with their grievances. “The resignation offer by the CM during the meeting put all the legislators on the back foot, and they requested the chief minister that they never wanted his resignation or to split the party, as portrayed by the media,” said one of the legislators present in the meeting. Sources said the legislators were also assured that the CM could review the portfolios of ministers at a later stage. Sources said the legislators were convinced and expressed their full support to NC president Farooq Abdullah and CM Omar Abdullah. Though in the memorandum handed over to NC president Farooq Abdullah, the legislators demanded action against the CM’s advisor and the deputy CM, sources said the CM didn’t give them any time frame for its resolution, but they were assured their genuine demands will be considered. After the meeting, all the legislators said they are NC loyalists and will remain so till the end of their lives.
