SriNagar: After a decade without an elected government, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is set to witness the swearing-in of Omar Abdullah as its Chief Minister today. This historic moment comes after the National Conference (NC) emerged victorious in the first Assembly elections held in the region since the abrogation of Article 370 and J&K’s transition into a Union Territory.
The swearing-in ceremony will be held at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar, where Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha will administer the oath to Omar Abdullah and his cabinet members at 11:30 AM. This event marks Abdullah’s second term as chief minister; his first stint was from 2009 to 2014 when J&K was still a state under an NC-Congress coalition government.
The NC has extended invitations to key leaders from the INDIA alliance, including Rahul Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and other prominent opposition figures like Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, and Lalu Prasad Yadav. However, it remains unclear which leaders will attend the event.
Omar Abdullah’s return to the helm follows the National Conference’s decisive win in the recent polls, securing 42 of the 90 seats in the newly formed Assembly. Alongside its ally, Congress, which won six seats, the NC commands a majority in the 95-member assembly, bolstered by the support of five Independent MLAs-elect and one MLA-elect from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
