Omar Abdullah to vacate his govt bungalow in Srinagar

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah will be vacating his government accommodation in Srinagar “on his own”, the former chief minister said on Wednesday (September 9).

Taking to Twitter, Omar said, “I will be vacating my government accommodation in Srinagar before the end of October. The point to note is that contrary to stories planted in the media last year, I received no notice to vacate & have chosen to do so of my own accord.”

He also attached a picture of the letter he wrote to the Administrative Secretary incharge of Estates, Hospitality, and Protocol in the Jammu and Kashmir government.

“This is to inform you that I have begun the search for a suitable alternate accommodation. The process is taking longer because of the constraints caused by COVID-19. I intend to complete the process in 8-10 weeks and should be in a position to hand over the Gupkar Road accommodation accordingly,” his notice mentioned.

Former chief ministers in erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir were entitled to government accommodation either in Jammu or Srinagar but this entitlement was withdrawn by the administration earlier this year.

“Consequent upon the change of entitlements for former CMs on Jammu and Kashmir some months ago, I now find myself in unauthorized occupation of this accommodation, as no attempt has been made to regularise the allotment to me on security and other grounds. This is a situation that is unacceptable to me. I have never held on to any government property I was not entitled to and I have no intention to start now,” a part of his notice read.

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Omar had informed the administrative secretary concerned about his decision to vacate the Gupkar residence that was allotted to him first in 2002 as MP from Srinagar and then after taking over as chief minister of the erstwhile state from 2009 to 2015.

Omar became the 11th and the youngest Chief Minister of erstwhile J&K state, after forming a government in coalition with the Congress in 2009.

Last month, his father and former CM, Farooq Abdullah was the prime mover of the Gupkar Declaration. It was approved by J&K’s six political parties — the National Conference, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Indian National Congress, the J&K Peoples Conference (PC), the CPI (M) and the Awami National Conference (ANC). These parties have vowed to fight collectively against the revocation of J&K’s special constitutional status.