Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath of office to Abdullah and five ministers at Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre on the banks of Dal Lake, where several legislators were imprisoned after August 5, 2019, when Article 370 and 35 (A) was abrogated and the erstwhile state was downgraded into the two UTs of J&K and Ladakh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defence minister Rajnath Singh, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and others extended their wishes to Abdullah on his second term as CM of J&K.
NC’s Surinder Kumar Choudhary, who won the assembly elections from Nowshera constituency of Jammu division defeating BJP’s J&K chief Ravinder Raina, has been appointed deputy chief minister of the UT. Choudhary had lost assembly elections from here in 2014 when he was associated with People’s Democratic Party, which he left in 2021 and joined BJP in 2022. A year later, he quit BJP and joined NC in July 2023.
Two other legislators from Jammu, Javed Ahmad Rana, who won from Mendhar in Pir Panchal region, and Satish Sharma, an independent candidate, who won from Chamb and extended support to NC, were also sworn in as Cabinet ministers.
In Kashmir Valley, NC’s Sakeena Masood Ittoo, who won from DH Pora constituency in Kulgam district, and NC’s Javed Dar, who won from Rafiabad, were sworn in as ministers.The ministry is likely to be expanded in the coming weeks. However, giving the deputy CM post to Jammu along with two ministers is a move by Abdullah to address the concerns expressed and conspiracies brewing over the divided electoral mandate in the 90-member assembly of the UT.“This is a big moment for the people of Jammu division, especially for Pir Panjal region, from where the DyCM was appointed for the first time in the last seven decades. This government has to fill the gap of the last 10 years, which is difficult but we will leave no stone unturned,” Choudhary told reporters here.
The BJP has won 29 of the 43 seats in Jammu division and NC has won 35 of the 47 seats in Kashmir Valley and seven in Jammu divison. The NC, as of now, enjoys the support of its alliance partner Congress, which has won six seats, CPI(M) and Aam Aadmi Party which has won one seat each and four independent candidates.
JKPCC chief Tariq Hameed Karra said Congress will not join the council of ministers for the moment because it is “unhappy” that statehood has not been restored. “The question of ministerial posts is irrelevant at this point. Our priority remains the restoration of statehood,” said Congress’ Ghulam Ahmad Mir, the party’s leader in the assembly.
For Omar, fulfilling his string of ambitious campaign promises, including striving for restoration of autonomy, Article 370, 35 (A) and statehood, has put him on a risky political journey, where he faces the danger of ending up as a reluctant CM in a weak assembly.
Soon after being sworn in as CM, Abdullah spoke to the Director General of J&K police Nalin Prabhat and instructed him that there is to be no “green corridor” or traffic stoppage when he moves anywhere by road. “I have instructed him to minimise public inconvenience and the use of sirens is to be minimal. The use of any stick waving or aggressive gestures is to be totally avoided. I’m asking my cabinet colleagues to follow the same example,” said Abdullah.
The CM also went to the civil secretariat where he received guard of honor and later chaired a meeting of the secretaries as well, which was attended by the Chief Secretary of J&K Atul Dulloo and heads of the other departments.
