Capping a day of high drama in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today tendered his resignation to Governor N N Vohra after senior PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Beigh stunned the Assembly by alleging that Abdullah’s name figured in a CBI list of suspects in the 2006 Srinagar sex scandal.

Abdullah asked Vohra to go into the allegation and accept his resignation if he was guilty. A Raj Bhavan spokesperson said the Governor has asked Abdullah to continue to discharge his responsibilities as Chief Minister till a final decision is taken.

In New Delhi, official sources said Vohra is unlikely to accept his resignation and the crisis in J&K will blow over since ally Congress has also rallied behind Abdullah and asked him not to press for acceptance of his resignation.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram gave him a clean chit in the sex scandal case. “The CBI has concluded investigations. Mr Omar Abdullah’s name does not figure in the list of the accused,” he told reporters.

Vohra, who was on his way to Srinagar airport to leave for Delhi, deferred his departure on receiving a message that the CM wanted to meet him urgently.

The Raj Bhavan spokesperson said Abdullah asked the Governor to inquire on a time-bound basis into allegations made against his character by Beigh, a former Deputy Chief Minister and now a PDP MLA, in the Assembly and to “immediately accept his resignation in case the Governor is satisfied that there is any basis therein.”

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