On the directions of Jammu Kashmir Chief Minister, Governor has removed the Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu from the Council of Ministers.
Earlier, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday shot a letter to Raj Bhavan asking Governor NN Vohra to remove Finance Minister Dr Haseeb Drabu from Council of Ministers. Senior PDP leader and Vice President, Sartaj Madni said that it is the prerogative of Chief Minister to remove any Minister from the Cabinet. “Yes, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has shot a letter to Governor NN Vohra asking him to remove incumbent Finance Minister Dr Haseeb Drabu from the Council of Ministers,” Madni told news agency CNS over phone. “Chief Minister took this stand over Drabu’s remarks that Kashmir “isn’t a political issue” but a society with “social issues.”
The remarks created a storm and Drabu was attacked from left right and centre even Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman called him an opportunist while senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz accused him coming up with this naïve statement on the behest of his (BJP) mentors. PDP Vice President Sartaj Madni had asked Drabu to retract the statement immediately. Drabu who was instrumental in extending GST to Jammu and Kashmir declined to comment on the issue. “I have to nothing to say,” he told CNS when contacted.