Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti entered into a war of words on twitter after Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers abstained during passing of Triple Talaq bill from Rajya Sabha.

‘Fail to understand the need to pass the triple talaq bill especially since the Supreme Court had already declared it illegal. Undue interference seemingly to punish Muslims. Given the current state of the economy, should this really have been a priority?’ Ms Mufti, who is the president of PDP, wrote on micro-blogging site twitter.

However, Mr Abdullah, who is the vice-president of National Conference (NC), was among the first to call her out. ‘Mehbooba Mufti ji, you might want to check how your members voted on this bill before tweeting. I understand they abstained which helped the government with the numbers needed to pass the bill. You can’t help the government & then fail to understand need to pass!’ Mr Abdullah tweeted.

To this, the PDP chief said, ‘Omar sahab, I suggest you get off your moral high horse since it was your own party that expelled Soz sahab for voting against the BJP in 1999. FYI in Parliament, abstention is essentially a no vote.’

Upping the ante at Ms Mufti, the NC vice-president asked her if recounting an incident from 20 years ago was the best she can do to ‘defend PDP’s duplicity’. So you are accepting you instructed your MPs to abstain, he said.

‘Madam, is recounting an incident from TWENTY years ago the best you can do to defend PDP duplicity? So you are accepting you instructed your MPs to abstain. And no an abstention is NOT a no vote, a no vote is a no vote. An abstention helped the BJP this time,” Mr Abdullah tweeted.

The PDP lawmakers abstained despite Ms Mufti’s repeated assurance that they would not side with the BJP. The Triple Talaq bill was passed in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday with 99 votes in its favour and 84 against it.

The PDP chief had earlier opposed the Triple Talaq bill, claiming the BJP was ‘entering our homes’ using the legislation.