Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy to Omar Abdullah as Chief Minister of Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir on Wednesday, October 16. Surinder Choudhary of the NC, who defeated BJP leader Ravinder Raina from Nowshera, has been designated deputy chief minister. Some days ago, the National Conference (NC) party had elected Omar as its legislature party leader paving the way for his assuming the charge of CM. In the 90-member Legislative Assembly, the NC had won from 42 segments, with Omar winning from both Ganderbal and Budgam constituencies.
Four other NC MLAs also took oath along with Omar and they were (1) Surinder Chaudhary from Nowshera (2) Javed Rana, a Gujjar leader from Mendhar (3) Javid Dar (4) Sakina Itto (nee Hameed) from D H Pora and (5) Satish Sharma, Independent MLA from Chhamb. Sharma was a rebel candidate who had revolted against Congress leadership after being denied mandate. He had defeated former deputy chief minister Tara Chand who was considered close to Sharma’s late father, Madan Lal Sharma.
Omar is without the services of his trusted Sajjad Kichloo who lost election from Kishtwar in a close contest to Shagun Parihar of the BJP. Kichloo was considered close to Omar and was Minister of State (MoS) for Home when Omar became the CM last time on January 5, 2009. However, home is a ministry which will not accrue to the democratic government and remain a domain of the LG under new rules of business enacted after August 5, 2019, changes.
Besides the NC members, the Omar government enjoys the support of six Congress MLAs and one CPM member Yusuf Tarigami. Four Independents elected from the Jammu region, who were rebel candidates of the NC and the Congress, have already pledged support to Omar. This effectively takes the number on the Treasury Benches to 53, a comfortable majority. On the other hand, the BJP with 29 members is all set to play the role of a strong opposition.
The NC had a pre-poll electoral tie-up with the Congress but no party MLA was sworn in as a minister with Omar. Speaking about the development, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Ghulam Ahmed Mir said that no party MLA will assume ministerial responsibility till statehood is restored to Jammu and Kashmir. Mir stressed that this position is non-negotiable and reflects the party’s commitment to the rights of the people. He refuted rumours suggesting that there was discord between the NC and the Congress over ministerial portfolios.
“We did not contest the assembly elections for power but to restore the rights of the people. The question of ministerial posts is irrelevant at this point. Our priority remains the restoration of statehood,” Mir stated. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should honour his commitment made time and again about restoration of statehood to J&K “The people have spoken, and the PM should respect their will,” he added.
Several important dignitaries, high profile political leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party, attended the ceremony, which marks the return of elected government after a decade. The event was held on the banks of Dal lake at SKICC. The last time any CM of J&K had taken oath here was on November 2, 2002, when late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had taken the office.
This marks Abdullah’s first term as CM since the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35-A in 2019 and the bifurcation of the former state into two Union Territories (UTs). All NC legislators and several other veteran leaders of the party were present at the oath-taking ceremony. Incidentally, the elections to the assembly had taken place in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1. The results were declared on October 8 and after that the process of the elected government assuming office was underway.
