Omar Abdullah took the oath of office on Wednesday as the inaugural Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, following his National Conference’s victory in the first assembly elections since the abrogation of Article 370. The ceremony took place at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar, where he and his council of ministers were administered the oath by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
This marks Omar Abdullah’s second term as Chief Minister and makes him the third generation of the Abdullah family to hold the position, following his grandfather Sheikh Abdullah and father Farooq Abdullah. Leaders from the INDIA Bloc, including Congress figures Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Mallikarjun Kharge, as well as SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and other prominent political figures, attended the event.
Notably, the Congress party announced its decision not to join the newly formed government, expressing dissatisfaction over the lack of restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir. Tariq Hameed Karra, the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee chief, reiterated the party’s demand for statehood, emphasizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s prior commitments to this cause.
Omar Abdullah has been unanimously elected as the leader of the NC Legislature Party. His previous term as Chief Minister lasted from 2009 to 2014 when Jammu and Kashmir was still a fully-fledged state. The ministers who took the oath alongside him include Sakina Itoo, Javeed Rana, Surinder Choudhary, Javeed Dar, and Satish Sharma.
Security was heightened around the venue for the swearing-in ceremony, marking a significant event as it establishes the first elected government in Jammu and Kashmir since the reorganization of the former state into two Union Territories. The elections, held in three phases, resulted in the NC-Congress alliance securing 48 out of 90 seats, with the National Conference leading the alliance’s efforts.
