Omar Abdullah Swears in as Chief Minister of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir

National Conference Leader Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, following his party’s victory in the first assembly election after the abrogation of Article 370. This swearing-in ceremony, held at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre in Srinagar, also saw the oath-taking of five other lawmakers from his National Conference party.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha administered the oaths to Abdullah and his ministers: Sakina Masood (Itoo), Javed Dar, Javed Rana, Surinder Choudhary, and Satish Sharma. Omar Abdullah's ascension to the role marks his second term as Chief Minister. He is also the third generation of the Abdullah family to hold this position, following his grandfather Sheikh Abdullah and his father Farooq Abdullah.

Leaders from the INDIA Bloc gathered in full force for the swearing-in ceremony of Omar Abdullah. Notable attendees included Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Mallikarjun Kharge, along with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Left leaders Prakash Karat and D Raja, DMK's Kanimozhi, and NCP's Supriya Sule. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti was also present at the event.

The National Conference emerged victorious in the assembly elections, securing 48 out of the 90 contested seats, with the Congress party winning six. Despite being in an alliance with the NC, Congress announced that it would not participate in the newly formed council of ministers. JKPCC chief Tariq Hameed Karra expressed the party's dissatisfaction over the lack of restored statehood for Jammu and Kashmir, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had previously promised. "We are unhappy; therefore, we are not joining the ministry at the moment," he stated, emphasizing the party's commitment to continue advocating for statehood restoration.