Srinagar: National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah was sworn in as chief minister of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.
Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath of office to Abdullah and five ministers at SheriKashmir International Convention Center on the banks of Dal Lake, where several legislators were imprisoned after August 5, 2019, when Article 370 and 35 (A) was abrogated and the erstwhile state was downgraded into the two UTs of J&K and Ladakh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defense minister Rajnath Singh, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and others extended their wishes to Abdullah on his second term as CM of J&K. NC’s Surinder Kumar Choudhary, who won the assembly elections from Nowshera constituency of Jammu division defeating BJP’s J&K chief Ravinder Raina, has been appointed deputy chief minister of the UT. Choudhary had lost assembly elections from here in 2014 when he was associated with People’s Democratic Party, which he left in 2021 and joined BJP in 2022. A year later, he quit BJP and joined NC in July 2023.
Two other legislators from Jammu, Javed Ahmad Rana, who won from Mendhar in Pir Panchal region, and Satish Sharma, an independent candidate, who won from Chamb and extended support to NC, were also sworn in as Cabinet ministers.
In Kashmir Valley, NC’s Sakeena Masood Ittoo, who won from DH Pora constituency in Kulgam district, and NC’s Javed Dar, who won from Rafiabad, were sworn in as ministers.The ministry is likely to be expanded in the coming weeks. However, giving the deputy CM post to Jammu along with two ministers is a move by Abdullah to address the concerns expressed and conspiracies brewing over the divided electoral mandate in the 90member assembly of the UT. “This is a big moment for the people of Jammu division, especially for Pir Panjal region, from where the DyCM was appointed for the first time in the last seven decades. This government has to fill the gap of the last 10 years, which is difficult but we will leave no stone unturned,” Choudhary told reporters here.
JKPCC chief Tariq Hameed Karra said Congress will not join the council of ministers for the moment because it is “unhappy” that statehood has not been restored. “The question of ministerial posts is irrelevant at this point. Our priority remains the restoration of statehood,” said Congress’ Ghulam Ahmad Mir, the party’s leader in the assembly.