National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah would take oath as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory on Wednesday after Lt Governor Manoj Sinha invited him to form and lead the government.
The oath-taking ceremony will take place at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) here at 11.30 am on October 16, a letter from LG to Omar said.
“Was pleased to receive the Principal Secretary to LG Manoj Sinha ji. He handed over a letter from the @OfficeOfLGJandK inviting me to form the next government in J&K,” Omar tweeted today.
“I have received a letter on 11th October, 2024 from Dr Farooq Abdullah, President, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference wherein it has been informed that you have been unanimously elected as Leader of the Legislature party. I have also received a letter from Tariq Hameed Karra, President J&K Pradesh Congress Committee, G N Malik, Secretary, CPI(M), Pankaj Kumar Gupta, National secretary, Aam Aadmi Party and Independent MLas namely, Payare Lal sharma, Satish Sharma, C. Mohammad Akram, Dr Rameshwaar Singh and Muzafar iqbal Khan, offering support in the formation of Government led by you”, read’s Lt Governor Sinha’s letter to Omar.
“I am pleased to invite you to form and lead the government of Jammu and Kashmir. I shall administer an 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 16 October 2024 at 11.30 am, ” reads the letter.
“I take this opportunity to wish you a highly productive tenure and success in your endeavours in the best interest of the people of Jammu and Kashmir”, Lt Governor further said.
The election to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was held in three phases on September 18, 25 and October 1 with a high voting percentage.
The National Conference won 42 seats, BJP 29, Congress 6, PDP 3, AAP 1, PC 1, CPIM 1 and independents 7.
The National Conference-Congress alliance won the Assembly elections and is set to form the government.
Omar has been elected as the leader of the NC-Congress alliance.
Earlier, yesterday President Murmu lifted the six years long president’s rule in J&K.
Central rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir on October 31, 2019, following the formal division of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 was passed by the Parliament on August 5, 2019 when scrapped Article 370 and bifurcated erstwhile J&K state into two Union Territories.
Prior to October 31, 2019, the central rule was continuing in the erstwhile state from June 2018 after the resignation of the then chief minister Mehbooba Mufti when the BJP withdrew support to the PDP-led government.