Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister resigns

Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Muzzafar Hussain Baigh Saturday said that he will handover his resignation from the coalition ministry to the chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on his return from New Delhi.

"I have decided to resign," he told a crowded press conference in Srinagar ending a week of high drama and speculations in the four years old Congress-Peoples Democratic Party coalition government.

"I will meet the chief minister on his return from New Delhi and request him to relieve me of my responsibilities as deputy chief and as a minister of the coalition government.

This follows weeklong controversy over the retention of key departments, which included finance and planning by Baig against the wishes of the PDP leadership.

The PDP wanted Baig stripped of the key portfolios following the recent expansion of the ministry by the chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Baig said that during his recent meeting with the PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed he had been accused of dereliction of responsibilities on four accounts which included the creation of eight new districts in the state, appointment of former chief secretary S.S.Billowria as the head of the delimitation commission, transfer of an SSP from south Kashmir Anantnag district to Budgam and operation of double shift in construction projects in the state.

He said that he justified his stand as "I didn't want frequent fracas in the running of the coalition and allowed room to chief minister in the matters of jurisdiction."