Masarat Alam row: Rajnath denies reports of telephonic conversation with Mufti

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday denied reports of having a telephonic conversation with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed over the release of separatist leader Masarat Alam.

"I did not speak to him (Mufti Sayeed) yesterday. I haven't spoken to any Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister for the past two-and-a-half years," Singh said.

"Only after I receive clarifications over the issues raised by us, I will be able to make a statement. The nation is our priority, and not the government," he added.

Meanwhile, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh said, "It is important to take people of the alliance into confidence. The Prime Minister and Home Minister have cleared the stand of the party on this issue."

Alam was released from Baramulla prison following the new Jammu and Kashmir government's policy to free political prisoners who do not face criminal charges.

Following an uproar by the opposition parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Parliament that the Central Government was neither informed nor consulted about Alam's release.

He added that the expression of anger over Alam's release does not belong to any political party, but to the entire nation and the entire House.

Alam is the chairman of Muslim League, a constituent of hard-line Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and is widely seen as the latter's successor.

He had been convicted for organizing anti-India protests resulting in the death of 112 people in stone pelting across the Valley in 2010.