National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. This is the second time he has assumed the office of Chief Minister. Surinder Choudhary, Nowshera MLA, was sworn-in as the Deputy CM of J&K.
Abdullah took oath as the J&K CM, becoming the first CM after Article 370 was abrogated and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into two union territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
J-K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath to Abdullah and five ministers in the Cabinet. Top INDIA alliance leaders, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti.
The five Cabinet ministers who were sworn-in alongside Omar Abdullah are – Sakina Masood (Itoo), Javed Dar, Javed Rana, Satish Sharma and Surinder Choudhary.
While Itoo and Dar are from the Kashmir valley, Rana, Choudhary and Sharma are from the Jammu region, representing an equal participation from both the provinces in Jammu and Kashmir.
Earlier, Abdullah was unanimously elected as the leader of the National Conference (NC) Legislature Party on Thursday following his party’s victory in 42 of the 90 contested seats in the recent elections. The Congress, their pre-poll ally, secured six seats. Together, the two parties hold a majority in the 95-member assembly, which will include five members to be nominated by the Lieutenant Governor.