Srinagar: National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah will be administered the oath as the first chief minister of the Jammu and Kashmir union territory on Wednesday morning, days after staking claims for the government's formation.
The Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha in a letter invited Omar as the leader of the legislature party alongside his council of ministers for taking oath at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre on the banks of Dal Lake.
“I am pleased to invite you to form and lead the government of Jammu and Kashmir,” read the letter undersigned by Sinha. “As separately settled, I shall administer the oath of office and secrecy to you and to those recommended by you for induction as members of your council of ministers at SKICC Srinagar on October 16 at 11:30 am.”
According to the J&K reorganisation Act, the council of ministers has not to cross 10 per cent of the total 90 members of the legislative, indicating he alongside 8 ministers will be administered the oath. The ceremony will be followed up by portfolio distribution.
In the summer capital of Srinagar, the highest seat of governance civil secretariat was being readied for hosting the chief minister and the ministers in the coming days. An official said the offices for the ministers have been readied after shifting several top bureaucrats to new rooms.
The bureaucracy assumed the prime role in running the administration after Jammu and Kashmir came under central rule with the fall of the PDP-BJP coalition government in 2018.
With decks cleared for the Omar-led government, the J&K Reorganisation Act mandates that the strength of the council of ministers including the chief minister can’t cross 10% of the strength of the 90-member Legislative Assembly. This meant that he, alongside 8 members, would join his cabinet.
The National Conference marked a landslide victory with 42 seats and staked the claim for the government formation alongside its alliance partners Congress, Communist Party of India (M) and five independents. This has raised the total seat tally to 55, more than the required numbers to form the government.
NC legislators and the allies unanimously supported Omar as the next chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Omar submitted the letters of support to Raj Bhawan on October 11.
A day earlier, the president’s rule was lifted in Jammu and Kashmir after five years paving the way for the government formation. The central rule was extended to Jammu and Kashmir on October 19, 2019, two months after the abrogation of Article 370 and downgrading the state into union territories. The President’s rule was imposed in the erstwhile state after the collapse of the PDP-BJP government in 2018.
However, the Omar-led government is faced with multiple challenges in the face of truncated powers to the legislative assembly. Now additionally, the LG-led administration last week further curtailed the powers by making it mandatory to appoint subordinate services (non-gazetted) in Public Sector Undertakings, Boards, corporations etc through the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board.
In the meanwhile, the oath ceremony is likely to be attended by NDA partners and chief ministers Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. "They are to be on the guest list and are likely to join us here as well," a source in the NC told ETV Bharat.
Besides the Congress's top leadership including its president Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are expected to attend the ceremony.
Arvind Kejriwal, Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, Uddhav Thackeray, D Raja, and Lalu Prasad Yadav are also to be invited to the ceremony, the NC source said. "It is a mega reach out to all the leaders in the country. The list will be sent to the LG office as well," the source added.
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