Srinagar

Former finance minister and the co-author of Agenda of Alliance has said he is not a “disgruntled MLA”. He took to Twitter to react to various newspaper reports appearing in the aftermath of the government collapse as “rebels” are attempting a new combination.

“In news reports, I read myself being referred to as a “disgruntled MLA”. Wonder why?” Drabu wrote on his Twitter on Saturday. “I neither have, nor have I expressed any personal cavil. For the member of a Legislative Assembly which is in suspended animation, the appropriate descriptor could be “disinterested”!”

Operating from Mumbai, his second home for a very long time, Drabu is frequently using his new communication tool – his twitter account to react to situations. He is being rarely seen in Srinagar after he was sacked by Mehbooba Mufti.

“These days it seems I surface at different places at the same time & there is a lot of interest in where I am who I meet, what I discuss,” Drabu said on Twitter on Friday. “I will save you the trouble of finding out by updating #whereishaseebdrabu with my whereabouts!”

This apparently was his reaction to a news report that he had a long meeting with Sajjad Lone in a Delhi hotel. Incidentally, the editor turned politician reported the meeting himself: “Must say takes some talent & no doing to whip up a “storm” in the valley these days! A chance lunch, a few light-hearted laughs, back-slapping bonhomie, that too in the presence of journalist friends, is made out to be a political potboiler! Can imaginations be put to better use?”

Drabu had flown to Delhi on July 5 and put this on his twitter: “Something seriously wrong with @airvistara catering: the offering on the menu has little to do with what is served. The choice on the menu is spaghetti bolonese; what is served is rubbery sphagettii with “keema” on the side! & some bell peppers. Where is the tomato sauce?”

Interestingly it was this “tomato sauce” that many thought he was busy cooking in the hotel with Sajjad Lone and a PDP MLC. However, he told reporters that he and Lone have been in the cabinet for many years but the meeting was not arranged and was a “chance meeting”. He has also said there was a reporter in the hotel as well.

Drabu’s significance is being referred to in most of the news reports after the rebellion in the party because he was holding a vital position in the party and the government. Apart from the finance minister and the main policymaker on socio-economic development, he was the co-author of the Agenda of Alliance that had given him an access in the BJP at the highest level. Since he was sacked and humiliated by Mehbooba, rational thinking indicates he may help the rebels.

Imran Raza Ansari and his uncle, Abid Ansari have rebelled against the party leadership and they have been supported by Mohammad Abbas Wani. In quick succession, Abdul Majid Padder (DH Pora) and Javed Beg have adversely commented on the party affairs indicating that if they get a chance, they may leave the party.

“I am busy with my own work,” Drabu said. “Since March 12, I have not made any public comment on any issue.”

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