India / Will vacate Srinagar accommodation by Oct on my own: Omar Abdullah

Sri Nagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday (September 9, 2020) said that he will be vacating his government accommodation on Gupkar Road, Srinagar before the end of October.

The National Conference (NC) leader said that he is vacating the residence of his own free will. Taking to Twitter, he wrote: "My letter to the J&K administration. 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 shared a letter written by him to the Secretary of Estates, Hospitality and Protocol, Jammu and Kashmir Government dated July 31 in which he had made the administration aware of his intention of vacating the premises.

With this post he has put an end to the rumours circulating in the media that he had received a "notice to vacate" the accommodation.

The letter states that he had continued to remain in possession of the accommodation following his "demitting the office of CM in January 2015, as the rules allowed for me to retain an accommodation in Srinagar or Jammu and I chose to retain an accommodation in Srinagar."

The letter conveyed that in line with the changes made a few months ago to entitlements for former chief ministers of J-K, Omar found himself to be in "unauthorised occupation of this accommodation". 

"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," the letter added.

He clarified that as no attempt has been made to regularise the allotment to him on security or other grounds and that he had no intention to hold on to any government property.