"Decision ultimately lies with legislators, alliance" Omar Abdullah on J&K CM face

Srinagar, Oct 09: After J&K National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah announced that party Vice President Omar Abdullah would be the next Chief Minister, the newly-elected MLA Omar said on Wednesday that the decision ultimately lies with legislators and the alliance.

"I am very grateful for the confidence that he (Farooq Abdullah) has reposed in me. But that decision is of the legislators to make. It is a decision of the alliance to make. I love my father dearly and I am very grateful for the support that he showed me yesterday but finally the say has to be of the legislators and I am always one to do things by the rules and by the book. This is the procedure that has to be followed and that is what will be done," he said.

The JKNC Vice President outlined two priorities for the incoming government that is legislative and governmental emphasising to pass a resolution asking for statehood to be restored to J-K.

"Whichever CM is sworn-in in the next few days, there will be two sets of priorities - one is legislative, which will be determined by the members of the Assembly when the session is called but the other is government-related. My own suggestion to the incoming government would be that first business of the cabinet should be to pass a resolution asking for statehood to be restored to J&K and the CM should travel to Delhi with that resolution, call on the senior leadership of the country and ask them to fulfill their promise," he said.

Omar Abdullah further expressed his gratitude and humility towards the people of Jammu and Kashmir for the mandate they've given his party.

"I am humbled by the verdict of the people, humbled by the mandate that the people have given. I am also acutely aware of the responsibility that this mandate places upon us. The people of J-K have voted, they made their voices heard, they want to be a part of the process of governance, they want to feel a part of the decision-making process and it is our responsibility to carry them along with us," he said.

"The people of J-K have gone unheard since 2018. Now the time has come for us to work for the benefit of the people of J-K. I am also acutely aware of the fact that there is a sharp divide between Kashmir and Jammu. Therefore, the incoming government will have a major responsibility of giving a sense of ownership to the people of Jammu," the NC leader added.

Omar said that incoming government will represent every individual of J-K, regardless of their voting choices.

"The Government that comes in in the next few days will not be that of the NC, of the alliance, of those that voted for us. It will be a government for every individual of J&K regardless of who they voted for or whether they voted at all...Special emphasis will be placed on giving a sense of ownership and a voice within the government to those areas from where MLAs in this coalition will be less in number," he said.

"First and foremost, wait for the Legislative Party Meeting which will take place tomorrow. Subsequent to the meeting, there will be the alliance meeting, it will determine the leader of the alliance. The leader of alliance will then, I assume, take letters of support, go to Raj Bhavan, stake the claim and request the LG to fix a date for the swearing-in. But I would like that to happen as soon as possible because we have been without an elected government since 2018. Time has come that we get back to work," Omar added.

The NC leader reaffirmed his party's commitment to restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, emphasizing that their political stance remains unchanged. He acknowledged that regaining Article 370 from those who abolished it would be unrealistic, labeling it as "foolishness" and a deception of the people.

"Our political stand won't change. We never said that we would be silent on the issue of Article 370 or that it is not an issue for us anymore. But we are not ready to fool people. I have always said that expectations of getting it back from people, who scrapped Article 370, is foolishness. That is like deceiving people. But we would keep this issue alive...We hope that one day the government would change, the Prime Minister would change and there would be a government with whom we would be able to talk on this issue and gain something for J-K," he said.

JKNC carried the alliance to victory by winning 42 seats in the results declared on Tuesday. Congress could win only six seats. Ninety seats went to the polls in Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls. The BJP also put up a strong performance, winning 29 seats.

Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's PDP secured three seats, while Sajad Gani Lone's People's Conference and Aam Aadmi Party won one seat each. CPI(M) also won one seat. Independents won seven seats. BJP got 25.64 per cent vote share followed by the National Conference with 23.43 per cent and Congress with 11.97 per cent.

This was the first election in Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 and its bifurcation into two Union Territories.