NEW DELHI, Oct 14: India’s junior foreign minister Omar Abdullah, whose party was mauled in recent polls in occupied Kashmir, quit his job on Monday and had a dig at political rivals now squabbling for power in the held state.

Omar tendered his resignation to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee after 40-minute closed-door talks with the Indian premier in New Delhi.

“Because of the political situation in (held) Kashmir I know I will not have the time to be in Delhi and so it was my duty to submit my resignation to the prime minister,” Omar Abdullah told reporters outside Vajpayee’s home.

“This is no symbolism... I am needed more in the (held) state in view of the election results,” he said.

Omar, however, said his National Conference party would not sever its ties with Vajpayee’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition government.

“We are part of the NDA and will remain so. There is no change in that,” he said.

He said he was determined not to remain in Vajpayee’s government.

“This time I have handed over the resignation with a request that it be accepted,” he said in reference to his offer to quit in April to protest the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat.

“At that time the circumstances were different. I had offered to resign because of my responsibility at that time as I could not vote with the NDA government (in parliament on an opposition motion on the riots).”

There was no word on whether Vajpayee had accepted Abdullah’s resignation and the Kashmiri politician too declined to offer a direct reply.

“If he had accepted my resignation straightaway, it might appear as if I am being thrown out.”—AFP