Senior Peoples Democratic Party leader Qazi Mohammad Afzal, who was stripped of  the Forest portfolio after rumours of corruption, submitted his resignation on Tuesday.

 

The minister, who was left with only the housing and urban development portfolio, tendered his resignation from the council of ministers.

Afzal sent his resignation to chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is likely to forward it to the state governor for acceptance. The chief minister divested Afzal of the ministry on Sunday following allegations

of corruption in the forest department.

"The forest department had created an artificial scarcity of timber in the state to pave way for the import of timber," said a senior Jammu and Kashmir government official.

The PDP, a major ally in the coalition government, is believed to have created a furore over the state government's decision to divest Afzal of the forest portfolio. However, it maintained a stoic silence over the minister's decision to resign.

Incidentally, Afzal had defeated National Conference president Omar Abdullah in the 2002 general elections.