Muzaffar Baig didn’t hand over PDP letter to J&K governor

On the day Mufti Muhammad Sayeed died, senior PDP leader Muzaffar Baig had taken a letter from his party to Jammu and Kashmir governor N.N. Vohra to intimate him of the decision that Mehbooba Muti will be the chief minister but did not hand it over to him as he needed to be fully assured that all the MLAs were on board on the decision.

The details have been revealed in a report sent by Mr Vohra to Rashtrapati Bhavan recommending governor’s rule in the state, according to the documents provided by the Union home ministry in an RTI response to activist Venkatesh Nayak.

“Sh Baig informed me that he had brought a letter from his party, addressed to me, which intimated the PDP’s decision that Mehbooba Mufti, member of Parliament, would be the next chief minister. Baig explained that he was not handing over this letter to me as he needed to recheck and be fully assured that all the PDP MLAs were on board in regard to the aforesaid decision,” he wrote in a letter dated January 9.

Sayeed died on January 7 and governor’s rule was imposed on January 9.