SRINAGAR: Indian-administered Kashmir's chief minister resumed his duties Friday, a day after the state governor rejected his resignation and cleared him of any links to a sex scandal.
Omar Abdullah announced his resignation after opposition lawmakers alleged he was a suspect in a probe into a prostitution ring involving 40 women and under-age girls, who allegedly had sex with politicians and businessmen.
The 39-year-old Abdullah, regarded as one of India's most promising young politicians, resumed his duties, saying he was ‘looking forward to serving the people of the state.’
An emotional Abdullah stormed out of the state assembly Tuesday, branding the charges that he was linked to the prostitution ring ‘baseless.’
The allegations raised in the state legislature plunged the mainly Muslim state, which has been racked by a two-decade-old separatist insurgency, into political turmoil.
‘I had to take a difficult decision in order to clear not only my name but also to establish some respectability for politics and politicians in the state,’ Abdullah told reporters Friday, referring to his move to quit.
He had vowed to return to his office only after the governor exonerated him of the ‘serious allegations’ levelled against him.
Governor N.N. Vohra wrote a letter Thursday to Abdullah calling on him to resume his duties, saying according to information given to him by the home ministry there was ‘no basis’ for Abdullah to resign.
India's Central Bureau of Investigation, which is probing the case, has already absolved Abdullah of any link to the prostitution charges.
The CBI has charged several former state ministers and top security officials over the prostitution scandal that first erupted in 2006, but opposition lawmakers said the agency was protecting some of the accused.
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