J&K National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah on Wednesday took oath as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He became the first chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir after it became a Union Territory in 2019.
Overall, Omar Abdullah is the 14th chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, which lost its statehood in 2019, when the central government scrapped its special status and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union Territories, the other Union Territory being Ladakh. Abdullah was previously the chief minister during 2009-15.
Beside Omar Abdullah, five ministers also took oath: NC MLAs Javed Rana, Surinder Chaudhary, Javed Dar, Sakeena Itoo, and Independent MLA Satish Sharma.
In the J&K assembly elections, the NC-Congress combine won with 48 seats (42 of NC and six of Congress) in the 90-member J&K assembly. Following the victory, the NC staked claim to form the government under Omar’s leadership.
For now, Congress has not joined the J&K government and will continue to support Omar’s government from outside.
Senior leaders of the Opposition’s INDIA bloc were present at the swearing-in ceremony. The leaders included Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, NC chief Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, AAP leader Sanjay Singh, and CPI leader D Raja, among others.
The leaders from INDIA bloc including Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, JKNC chief Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, AAP leader Sanjay Singh, CPI leader D Raja and others are present here.
The 2024 J&K assembly elections were the first in J&K since 2014. The erstwhile state had been without an elected assembly since 2018 when the then-Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the assembly.
Omar is the third-generation Chief Minister of J&K from his family. Before him, his father Farooq Abdullah and grandfather Sheikh Abdullah served multiple tenures as the CMs of J&K. Abdullah also served as the Prime Minister of J&K — the designation used to be the PM of J&K until 1965 when it was renamed to CM of J&K.
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Omar Abdullah takes oath as first chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory
