Omar Abdullah advises cabinet, then 'shuts up'

SRINAGAR: As the Union Cabinet discussed a bill seeking to rein in sports bodies, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was of the view that Ministers, who included his father Farooq Abdullah, heading these should have “excused” themselves from the meeting.

Omar expressed his view through a tweet last night soon after the Cabinet rejected the National Sports Development Bill because of strong objections by ministers who have interest in sports bodies.

However, within hours, the Chief Minister deleted his post from the social networking site and replaced it with a new one. “And on a different note the next time I plan to tweet on what central cabinet ministers do, someone please tell me to shut up,” he tweeted with a smiley. Padding it up, he said, “I should remember that the channels will make a story out of just about anything & that will teach me to shut up”.

Farooq Abdullah, who heads the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association, was among those who vociferously opposed the Bill, par-ticularly because it sought to put a cap on age and tenure of those heading the sports bodies. “I am 73-plus but I can do so many things which younger people cannot do,” Farooq Abdullah is said to have remarked at the Cabinet meeting.