Examgate took a new spin on Saturday after Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, who was divested of school education portfolio on Friday, claimed that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had not accepted his resignation and that he would continue to be in Omar Abdullah’s cabinet, though only with public enterprise department portfolio.

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Peerzada, who was holding two portfolios - School Education and Public Enterprises - on Friday had submitted his resignation to AICC president Sonia Gandhi bypassing Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, asking her to take the call on this issue.

“I had sent my resignation to Soniaji urging her to take a decision. I have heard that she has not accepted my resignation. I am soldier of my party and I did not want to create hurdles (for development of state). She has not accepted my resignation and told me to start work. I, as a nominee of the Congress, will remain in the coalition government,” said Peerzada.

The resignation had followed the Crime Branch report purportedly indicting officials of the state’s Board of School Education (BOSE) for helping the education minister’s foster son to cheat in class X examination in 2009.

Pushed to wall, Omar said there is nothing further to the Peerzada matter except that his portfolio of school education has been withdrawn. “He continues to remain as minister and this is the end of the matter. He can remain in my cabinet so long he chooses,” he said.

Omar noted that though crime branch has established that the exam papers were tampered with, it has not said on whose behest the tampering took place. “This is why that the case will be resubmitted to crime branch (to fix the responsibility)”, he said.