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It’s official: Omar to take oath as J&K CM on October 16
A close aide of chief minister-designate Omar Abdullah confirmed that the latter will take oath at 11.30 am on Wednesday in Srinagar
The President’s rule was on Sunday lifted from J&K, paving way for the new National Conference (NC)-led government to be sworn in.
A close aide of chief minister-designate Omar Abdullah confirmed that the latter will rake oath at 11.30 am on Wednesday in Srinagar.
Sources close to the NC vice-president said that seven or eight ministers are likely to be sworn in with the CM-designate.
The lieutenant governor officially invited Omar for the oath ceremony, the NC vice-president confirmed in a post on X. LG Manoj Sinha will administer oath to Omar and other ministers at Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre.
In an order issued late on Sunday, President Droupadi Murmu lifted the President’s rule from J&K after six years.
J&K came under the President’s rule in June 2018, after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) withdrew its support from the coalition government with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The move was followed by the resignation of the then CM Mehbooba Mufti. In August 2019, Article 370 and 35A of the Constitution were revoked by the Centre, and J&K was divided and re-classified into two Union territories, J&K and Ladakh.
The swearing-in ceremony of Omar is likely set to be a show of Opposition strength, with senior leaders from the INDIA bloc invited.
Omar Abdullah and NC president Farooq Abdullah have already extended invitations to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin (Dravida Munnetra Kazagham), Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena (UBT)), NCP(SP)’s Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Lalu Prasad (Rashtriya Janata Dal), Arvind Kejriwal (Aam Aadmi Party), and D Raja of the Communist Party of India. The confirmation from the leaders is still awaited.
The invitations have also been extended to senior Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi. Sources said that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and general secretary KC Venugopal will attend the ceremony.
The NC and the Congress contested the J&K assembly polls – the first in a decade – in an alliance. While the NC won 42 seats in the 90-member assembly, the Congress won six. Another ally, CPI(M), won one seat and five Independents later extended support to the NC-led alliance.
