New Delhi: National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah was sworn in as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Wednesday, becoming the head of the first elected government of the Union territory since the 2019 abrogation of Article 370.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath of office to Abdullah at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre.
Five ministers—Sakina Masood (Itoo), Javed Dar, Javed Rana, Surinder Choudhary, and Satish Sharma—also took the oath of office. While Sakina Masood and Dar are from the Kashmir valley, Rana, Choudhary and Sharma are from Jammu. Choudhary was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister.
Omar Abdullah takes over as CM for a second term (the first from 2009-15) and is the third generation of the Abdullah family to occupy the office, after his grandfather Sheikh Abdullah, and father Farooq Abdullah.
He had also served as Union Minister of State for External Affairs in former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s NDA government from 2001 to 2002.
After the swearing-in, Farooq Abdullah told reporters that Omar was wearing “a crown of thorns”. “May God make it successful and fulfil the wishes of people… This is my message,” the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) president said.
Surinder Choudhary thanked the Abdullahs “for the big position”, adding this decision proved that Jammu was as important as Kashmir to Omar.
“The honourable Home Minister in Parliament has said that statehood will be restored in J&K… Our priorities will be to bridge the gap which has surfaced in the last 10 years and resolve issues of unemployment, electricity, water, hospitals, schools and tourism,” he added.
Meanwhile, ally Congress, which got a mere six seats compared to JKNC’s 42, decided to sit out of the government. State Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra said in a statement the Congress was unhappy that J&K’s statehood had not been restored.
After the event, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said the party was happy its alliance partner had become the chief minister, and that it was a “big success for Jammu and Kashmir”.
“Today, democracy has been established here, and we will work together to strengthen it. We will continue to fight until Jammu and Kashmir gets its statehood status,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Omar Abdullah in a post on X, wishing him the very best in his “efforts to serve the people”. He said the Centre would work closely with him and his team for the progress of Jammu and Kashmir.
In an interview to ANI before the ceremony, Omar had said he looked forward to working with the central government, but reiterated the demand for statehood.
“I have some strange distinctions. I was the last chief minister to serve a full six-year term. Now I’ll be the first chief minister of the Union territory of J&K. Being a CM of a Union territory is a different matter altogether. I hope the status is temporary. We look forward to working in cooperation with the government of India to resolve the people’s problems and the best way to do that would be to start by restoring statehood to J&K,” he said.
Having gone through difficult times, the people now have many expectations from his government, he added. “They were not being heard for the last 5-6 years. It will be our responsibility to listen to them and act on it.”
Also read: Now revoked in J&K, what President’s Rule means legally & when it can be imposed, extended
‘There should be a stable govt’
The two parties went to polls as allies and hold a majority in the 95-member assembly—five members are to be nominated by the LG.
On Omar’s chief ministership, senior Congress leader Dr Karan Singh hoped his government would be successful, adding the people’s “next wish” was statehood.
“J&K was not an ordinary state. It is the crown of India, and now it is not even a state, just a Union Territory… Congress seats are very few, just six. Farooq Abdullah has a majority even without them. There should be a stable government,” said the titular maharaja of the former princely state.
#WATCH | Delhi: On J&K CM Omar Abdullah's oath ceremony, Senior Congress leader Dr Karan Singh says, "It is great that free and fair elections were held without any violence… The people of J&K got the chance to present their political wish… I hope the government formed by… pic.twitter.com/7g5pvWAIhv
— ANI (@ANI) October 16, 2024
Several INDIA bloc leaders attended the event in Srinagar, including Congress’s Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Left leaders Prakash Karat and D. Raja, DMK’s Kanimozhi and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar)’s Supriya Sule. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti also attended the event.
Omar Abdullah’s mother Molly, his two sisters, and two sons were also present.
In 2019, the erstwhile state was bifurcated into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh after the abrogation of Article 370.
Jammu and Kashmir was under Presidential rule since 2018, after the BJP withdrew support to the coalition government with the Mehbooba Mufti-led People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
President’s rule was recently revoked, paving the way for elections and the formation of a new government.
Also read: Symbol of hope for youth to now a ‘seasoned, no-nonsense politician’, the evolution of Omar Abdullah