Omar: Eyes on Srinagar, pulls foot out of Delhi

Maintaining he was ‘‘needed more’’ in Jammu and Kashmir, where his party has been turfed out of power, National Conferen...

Maintaining he was ‘‘needed more’’ in Jammu and Kashmir, where his party has been turfed out of power, National Conference (NC) president Omar Abdullah today quit as Minister of State for External Affairs but said his party would continue to be a member of the NDA.

And he queered the pitch further saying the Congress-PDP deadlock over government formation in the state had kept NC hopes alive. ‘‘We have not yet closed our doors in Jammu and Kashmir. It appears that while the pre-poll understanding between the Congress and PDP was easy, post-poll understanding is running into trouble.’’

Omar gave his resignation letter to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee this evening. Soon after the meeting, he told reporters he had made it clear to Vajpayee that he wanted to devote more time in the state to strengthen his party.

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‘‘There will be no time for me to perform a role in the Union government,’’ he said, repeating what he had told Vajpayee.

To a query on what had been the PM’s response, Omar said there was no immediate reaction. ‘‘But we are part of the NDA and will remain so. There is no change in that.’’ On whether an NC member would replace him in the Union ministry, Omar said this would be decided by the party working committee.

Before he flew to New Delhi, Omar today met Governor G C Saxena in Srinagar, fuelling speculation. His father, Farooq Abdullah, also announced that the NC was still keeping its options open on staking claim to form a government in the state.

‘‘The option is still open and we are discussing it,’’ Abdullah told reporters. He claimed that Shah Jahan Dar, independent candidate from Zadibal, had joined the NC.

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‘‘He was our member and had left the party. Now he has again joined the party. Others who left the party because of our mistake will also return to the party.’’

Earlier, Dar confirmed that he had an hour-long meeting with Abdullah but said he had not yet made up his mind whether to join or extend support to any party.

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