Omar Abdullah stakes claim for Govt formation

Srinagar, Oct 11: The National Conference (NC)-Congress alliance formally staked its claim to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir as National Conference Vice President and Chief Minister-designate Omar Abdullah met Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday evening.

He presented the letters of support from coalition partners during the meeting hours after Congress extended its backing for his leadership.

Omar was unanimously elected the leader of the NC legislature party on Thursday, making him line up for his second term as chief minister.

His first term as chief minister also covered the years he served as head of government in an NC-Congress coalition between 2009 and 2014.

The recently concluded elections have catapulted the NC as a major ruling force, securing 42 of the 90 seats in the three-phase elections.

The Congress took six seats, giving the alliance an easy majority.

Along with the NC-Congress alliance, four independent MLAs, CPI(M) and Aam Aadmi Party legislators also threw their support behind Abdullah, cementing the coalition’s position.

“I met the LG and presented letters of support from the NC, Congress, CPI(M), AAP, and independents. I requested him to fix a date for the oath ceremony as soon as possible so that the new government, chosen by the people, can start functioning,” Omar told reporters.

He said that the swearing-in ceremony was likely to take place on Wednesday, though procedural formalities could cause slight delays.

“This transition is different because it is not the replacement of one democratically elected government by another. J&K is still under central rule, so the LG needs to send documents to Rashtrapati Bhavan. From there, they will move to the Home Ministry for further formalities before returning. We have been told this will take two to three days, so we are hopeful that the oath ceremony will take place by Wednesday,” he said.

The six Congress MLAs met in Srinagar earlier today and authorised the party’s central leadership in New Delhi to decide on the leader of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP). According to Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) President Tariq Karra, the decision was taken unanimously whereby the central leadership would be left to take a call on the CLP leader.

This will be the first elected government in Jammu and Kashmir since 2018, when Governor’s rule was imposed following the BJP’s withdrawal of support from then-chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.

It will also mark the first elected government after the abrogation of Article 370 and the delimitation of seats in J&K.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 29 seats.