Srinagar: The National Conference (NC) on Thursday elected its Vice President Omar Abdullah as the legislature party leader, clearing the decks for him to be the first Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. He will likely take the oath of office on Sunday or Monday with the support of Congress and a few independent MLAs.
The NC President Farooq Abdullah announced that Omar has been unanimously elected as the LP leader. He will be the first chief minister of the UT with the support from Congress support. The coalition government will have 48 seats and the support of a few independent legislators.
Sources told ETV Bharat that the NC and Congress alliance will hold a joint meeting on Friday to choose Omar as the leader of the alliance and the chief ministerial candidate of the next government. The alliance will also meet Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha on Saturday and stake claim for government formation.
Meanwhile, Congress’s J&K chief Tariq Karra has flown to New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon to apprise the Congress high command about the developments and list of legislators to be sworn in the 10-member cabinet of the new government, sources added.
On Wednesday, Omar told ETV Bharat that the next government will most likely be sworn in on Sunday or Monday.
More About Omar Abdullah
Omar began his political innings at the age of 28 years when he first contested the 1998 parliament elections and was appointed as the Minister of State (MoS) for Commerce and Industries. He later served as MoS for External Affairs in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP government at the centre.
In 2002, Omar contested his first assembly elections and won the seat from Ganderbal. That year, PDP and Congress formed a coalition government. In 2008, Omar again won the elections from Ganderbal and became chief minister with Congress support.
In the 2014 assembly elections, he contested from Sonawar and Beerwah seats but lost the polls against PDP's new entrant Ashraf Mir from Sonwar. The PDP and BJP joined hands to form the government in 2015, which lasted for more than three years after the BJP withdrew support for Mehbooba Mufti in June 2018.
Omar will be the chief minister with the thin support of Congress and independents, though his party has the majority of 42 seats in the 90-member legislative assembly. This will be his second term as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, but he will be heading a union territory this time.
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