New Delhi

National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah, on Wednesday, took oath as the Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

With this, he became the first CM of J&K UT after the reorganization of the former State and the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath of office to Omar Abdullah at the Sheri-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar.

Five ministers — Sakina Masood (Itoo), Javed Dar, Javed Rana, Surinder Choudhary of the National Conference, and Satish Sharma (Independent) took oath as ministers. Sakina is the only former minister and all others are first-timers.

There was no Congress representation in the new government. Sakina Itoo and Javed Dar are from Kashmir while Javed Rana and Surender Choudhary are from Jammu, while Satish Sharma is also from Jammu.

Surender Choudhary is a giant killer as he defeated BJP chief Ravinder Raina from Nowshehra, Jammu,

Satish Sharma defeated former Deputy CM and senior Congress leader Tara Chand from the Chhamb Assembly seat in the Jammu district.

The leaders from the INDIA bloc, including Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, AAP leader Sanjay Singh, CPI leader D. Raja and others attended the ceremony.

Omar Abdullah paid homage to his grandfather Seikh Abdullah at Hazratbal befre taking oath:

Chief Minster designate @OmarAbdullah offered Fatiha khawani at Mazarat-e-Anwar of Sher-e-Kashmir and Madar-e-Meharban at Qaid Mazar, Naseem Bagh, Srinagar ahead of Swearing-in-ceremony. pic.twitter.com/jzKSmZ1rLK

— JKNC (@JKNC_) October 16, 2024

The National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah was also there. He had declared that his son, Omar Abdullah would be the CM soon after the trends during the counting on October 8 showed his party was leading.

Jammu and Kashmir Congress Chief Tariq Hameed Karra said that the Congress was not joining the ministry at the moment. After failing to get two ministerial berths in the cabinet, the Congress decided to support the NC government from the outside.

After taking the oath, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will chair a meeting of all the administrative secretaries at the Srinagar Civil Secretariat.

It is important to mention that no senior leader of the National Conference has been able to get a berth in the cabinet

Omar Abdullah’s family, including his father Farooq Abdullah, his mother Molly Abdullah, his two sisters, and two sons were present on the occasion.

Abdullah was earlier unanimously elected leader of the NC Legislature Party. His first term as chief minister was from 2009 to 2014 when Jammu and Kashmir was a full-fledged state.

The National Conference won 42 out of the 90 seats in the recent elections while alliance partner Congress bagged six. Together, the two pre-poll allies hold a majority in the 95-member assembly — five members are to be nominated by the LG.

In 2019, the erstwhile state was bifurcated into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

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Security was enhanced in Srinagar city ahead of the oath-taking ceremony.