Omar Abdullah says J&K Raj Bhawan's fax machine still broken, governor's office confirms letter received

Hours after National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah on Sunday claimed his attempt to send a letter via fax to Jammu and Kashmir Governor SP Malik failed as the machine is still not working, the governor's office said that they have received the letter.

Taking to Twitter, Raj Bhavan clarified that the letter faxed by Omar Abdullah was received by them. They also added that the receipt was confirmed to Tanvir Sadiq, Omar's advisor at 3.44 pm on Sunday.

However, after the fax failed, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister later shared the letter on Twitter. 

Omar claimed the operator who answered the phone said "the fax operator is on holiday as it’s a Sunday".

He had tried to fax a letter to Malik expressing NC's concerns over reports of changes proposed to the procedure of granting permanent residence certificates in the state. 

The Raj Bhawan's fax machine was at the centre of a political drama in Novemner.

"I'm trying to fax a letter to jandkgovernor but the fax machine still isn't working. The operator who answered the phone says the fax operator is on holiday as it's a Sunday. Will attempt again tomorrow in the meantime am forced to put the letter out through social media," Abdullah said in a tweet.

"J&K Raj Bhavan needs a new fax machine urgently," he said, retweeting a post from November 21.

The Raj Bhawan's fax machine made headlines in November when Malik abruptly dissolved the state assembly.

On November 21, letters to stake claim to form government by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a two-member party, People's Conference, allegedly failed to reach the governor, apparently because the machine was not operational.

Malik later said the fax operator was unavailable on account of Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi, which is a state holiday.