Omar Abdullah takes oath as first CM of J&K UT

Lieutenant-governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath to Mr Abdullah, 54, who was wearing a black sherwani, white shalwar and a colourful Kufi cap as he was sworn in as the first chief minister of the Union territory of J&K. Mr Abdullah’s party colleague Surinder Kumar Choudhary was sworn in as deputy chief minister. Mr Choudhary defeated J&K BJP chief Ravinder Raina by a margin of 7,819 votes in Nowshera seat in Jammu in the recently-held UT Assembly elections.

Sakeena Masood Itoo, Javed Ahmed Rana, Javed Ahmed Dar and Satish Sharma were also sworn in as members of the council of ministers. While Ms Itoo and Mr Dar are from the Kashmir Valley, Mr Choudhary, Mr Rana and Mr Sharma represent the Jammu region.

After his swearing-in, Mr Abdullah told reporters: “I fulfilled my promise by choosing a deputy CM from Jammu. I had promised that Jammu people should not feel that they are not part of the government. The deputy CM from Jammu is a clear message to the people of Jammu that we are going to take them along.” He said there are three Cabinet posts still vacant, which will also be filled shortly.

Mr Abdullah, 54, had served as chief minister of the erstwhile state of J&K between 2008 and 2014. His political career spans over two decades, with other notable roles including minister of state for external affairs in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government at the Centre and National Conference president.

After taking the oath of office, Mr Abdullah visited Srinagar’s Civil Secretariat where he was offered the customary guard of honour by a special contingent of the J&K police.

His father and NC president Farooq Abdullah said that the new government will put an end to the sufferings of people from both regions. “This government will treat both regions equally and will also end the sufferings of people,” he told reporters.

This is the formation of the first elected government in J&K after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in August 2019, ending the six-year Central rule in J&K. The erstwhile state of J&K was stripped of its special status and split into two Union territories on August 5, 2019.

Wednesday’s ceremony was attended, among others, by Dr Farooq Abdullah, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Former UP chief minister and Samajwadi president Akhilesh Yadav, CPI-M leader Prakash Karat, CPI’s D. Raja, DMK’s Kanimozhi and NCP’s Supriya Sule and several other leaders or representatives of various constituents of the INDIA bloc were also present. Former J&K CM and People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti and Mr Abdullah mother Molly Abdullah, two sisters, and two sons were present as well.

Significantly, the Congress Party, NC’s alliance partner, has not joined the government. Sources in the party said it was offered one ministerial berth in the Abdullah government, which it had declined. AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmed Mir, who was elected as Congress Legislature Party leader earlier this week, denied that there was any discord between the alliance partners on government formation. “We are fully aligned with our allies in the INDIA bloc. We are committed to working together to achieve our collective goals,” he told reporters shortly before the swearing-in ceremony.

He said that the Congress firmly stands for the restoration of statehood to J&K and decided “not take the oath of office until statehood is fully restored”. He asserted: “Our position on the issue is non-negotiable and reflects the party’s commitment to the rights of the people of J&K. We did not contest this election for power but to restore the rights of the people.”

He added: “The question of ministerial posts is irrelevant at this point. Our priority remains the restoration of statehood. The Prime Minister must honour the mandate given by the people of J&K. They want the return of statehood, and the Prime Minister should respect their will.”

Earlier during the day on Wednesday, Mr Abdullah paid obeisance at the mausoleum of his grandfather and legendary Kashmiri leader Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah at Naseem Bagh here. Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, he said he had “some strange distinctions” for he was the last chief minister of J&K to serve a full six-year term and will be the first chief minister of the Union territory of J&K. He, however, hoped J&K’s status of a Union territory was a temporary one and he looked 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 reiterated that since the Prime Minister and Union home minister Amit Shah have committed that J&K’s statehood will be restored, “I hope it will happen soon”. He told PTI: “In the meantime, we have a responsibility and a mandate from the people to get down to work... Governing Jammu and Kashmir comes with its own challenges, but it is also an incredible opportunity.”

Elections to the J&K Assembly were held in three phases from September 18 after a gap of 10 years. The NC won 42 seats and its pre-poll alliance partners Congress and CPI(M) six seats and one seat respectively. Five of the seven Independent candidates and AAP’s lone MLA Mehraj Malik have extended their support to Mr Abdullah, taking the number of MLAs backing his claim to form the government to 55 in the House of 90.