Omar Abdullah Meets JK LG For Government Formation

Omar Abdullah met Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha and staked a claim to form the government in the Union Territory.

Srinagar: National Conference (NC) legislative party leader Omar Abdullah on Friday evening met Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and staked claim for government formation by submitting letters of support of Congress and independents.

Omar, son of NC chief Dr Farooq Abdullah, rushed to the Raj Bhavan here and met the LG after the Congress JK president Tariq Karra extended the grand old party's support to the NC.

"I met the LG and handed over letters of support that I have received from the Congress, CPM, AAP and independents. I requested him to fix a date for the swearing-in ceremony so that the government can start functioning. It will be a long process as there is a Centre rule here," Omar said after meeting the LG.

"The LG will first send the documents to Rashtrapati Bhawan and then to (Union) Home Ministry. We have been told it will take two to three days. So if it happens before Tuesday, we will have the swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday. All I want to say is that Jammu will not be ignored in this government," added Omar.

The NC and Congress coalition supported by the five independents and a lone Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA will have 54 legislators while the opposition BJP will have 29 legislators in the Legislative Assembly of the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory.

This will be the first elected government in the Union Territory after the erstwhile state was downgraded into a UT and its special status was scrapped.

Omar told ETV Bharat in an interview that the government will pass a resolution on statehood and submit it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior leaders of the country for restoration of the statehood as earliest as possible.

Omar had also said that his government would be for all the people in the UT, including the Jammu region.