Omar Abdullah sworn in as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, first of the UT

On 16 October, Wednesday, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, the first elected government in the union territory since 2019 when Article 370 was abrogated.

Lt governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy to Abdullah, who takes over as chief minister for a second term and is the third generation of the Abdullah family to occupy the office — after his grandfather Sheikh Abdullah and father Farooq Abdullah.

Five ministers were also sworn in.

INDIA Bloc leaders attended the event in full strength. Among those who had gathered at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) were Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Left leaders Prakash Karat and D. Raja, DMK's Kanimozhi and NCP's Supriya Sule. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti also attended the event.

Abdullah has been unanimously elected leader of the NC Legislature Party. His first term as chief minister was from 2009 to 2014 when Jammu and Kashmir was a full-fledged state.

The National Conference won 42 out of the 90 seats in the recent elections while alliance partner Congress bagged six. Together, the two pre-poll allies hold a majority in the 95-member assembly — five members are to be nominated by the LG.

In 2019, the erstwhile state was bifurcated into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Ahead of his swearing in this morning, Abdullah first laid floral tributes at the Mazar-e-Anwar — the mausoleum of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the National Conference founder and his grand father — in Srinagar.

“I have some strange distinctions,” he said to mediapersons gathered there. “I was the last chief minister to serve a full six-year term. Now I'll be the first chief minister of the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir. The last distinction, as in the one of serving six years.” 

He then went on to pay homage at the Hazrat Bal shrine, where he prayed for the peace and prosperity of Jammu and Kashmir, just before heading to the oath-taking ceremony.

With PTI inputs