When PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Beigh alleged that Omar Abdullah was involved in the 2006 Srinagar sex scandal, the Chief Minister’s decision to resign caused a stir but this is not the first time he’s buckled under pressure.

Omar subsequently did alter his plans when he left the Assembly complex and decided to send in a “conditional” resignation to the Raj Bhavan. The turn of events put the PDP on the backfoot — Beigh toned down his rhetoric and even admitted that Omar might well be exonerated.

Omar’s resignation letter requested Governor N N Vohra to accept his decision to step down if he saw any basis to the accusation, while also requesting the Governor to inquire into the “unsubstantiated allegations against his person by attacking (my) character”.

He was a lot more dramatic in the House. “If the allegation was of theft or nepotism etc, you are innocent till proven guilty. But this is different. You can expunge it from records, get an inquiry done by the Home Department but it will not change anything. I will be guilty till proven innocent. I cannot live with this stigma and thus will resign,” he said.

On the face of it, Omar’s ready-to-sacrifice-chair approach has certainly given him the moral high ground. But the road to the resignation did not begin during today’s debate in the Assembly.

Since the state government mishandled the Shopian double rape and murder in June, he has never looked in complete control. Under pressure, especially from the Opposition, he has taken hasty decisions to outsmart rivals. Today, too, he looked more ready to shun office rather than take on the PDP.

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