Omar Abdullah takes oath as Jammu-Kashmir CM; Congress opts out of govt

Top INDIA bloc leaders including Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti were present at Omar Abdullah's swearing-in ceremony in Srinagar

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Wednesday took oath as the first Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Union territory swearing-in at Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar.

Top INDIA bloc leaders including Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, AAP leader Sanjay Singh, CPI leader D Raja, among others were present at the event.

Notably, the Congress party, which fought the Assembly polls with Abdullah’s party in an alliance, has decided to sit out the government. 

 

While JKNC logged a victory winning 42 out of the 90 seats, the Congress could manage only seven seats during the polls. After the results, four independent MLAs had extended their support to Abdullah, helping him cross the majority mark of 45, needed to form the government.

The Assembly elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir in three phases from September 18 to October 1. The results were announced alongside Haryana on October 8.

These elections marked the first polls in the erstwhile state since it was bifurcated into two union territories: Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, in August 2019. The Centre had decided revoking the special status of the region by abrogating Article 370.

The NC-Congress alliance last governed the region from 2009 to 2014. On Monday, J-K LG Manoj Sinha invited Abdullah to form the next government in the union territory.

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party won 29 seats in Jammu and Kashmir elections, where it had hoped to form the government by banking on the Article 370 poll plank.

The saffron party managed to retain Haryana for the third time, leaving the Congress in shock, which had hoped to oust the BJP after its 10 years of rule in the state.