Omar meets LG, stakes claim to form J&K govt

Srinagar: The National Conference (NC)-led alliance on Friday staked claim to form the government in Jammu & Kashmir as party vice-president and chief minister-designate Omar Abdullah called on lieutenant governor (LG) Manoj Sinha at the Raj Bhavan in Srinagar and handed over letters of support from the coalition partners.

Earlier in the day, the Congress legislature party extended its support for government-formation to Abdullah, who was unanimously elected as the NC’s legislature party leader on Thursday. On Friday, the NC-led coalition’s strength in the 90-member assembly swelled to 55 after another independent legislator and the lone winner from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also extended support to the alliance.

“I met the LG and presented the letters of support from the NC, Congress, CPI(M), AAP and Independents who have supported the NC. I requested him to fix a date as soon as possible so that the oath ceremony takes place and the government elected by the people starts functioning,” Abdullah, who is set to become the chief minister of J&K for a second time, told reporters at his residence after returning from the Raj Bhawan.

Abdullah hinted that the oath-taking ceremony will be likely held on Wednesday.

“The Raj Bhavan has informed that the procedure for the revocation of President’s Rule in Jammu & Kashmir commenced tonight and is expected to take 3-4 days,” the National Conference said in a post on X. “The Chief Minister and his ministers will take the oath as soon as these procedures are completed.”

Abdullah, while talking to reporters, elaborated that the process will take some time as it is not that an elected government is being replaced by another elected government.

“This is a central rule, we are a Union territory, and the LG has to prepare documents and send them to Rashtrapati Bhavan. From Rashtrapati Bhavan, they will go to the Home Ministry where they will do their paperwork and then the documents will be sent back,” he said.

In the assembly polls — the first in J&K in a decade — the NC won 42 of the 90 assembly seats with the alliance partner Congress bagging six seats. Another ally CPI(M) won a solitary seat. Five of the seven winning independent candidates, including Muzaffar Iqbal Khan who the Thanamandi seat in Rajouri district, extended support to the NC-led alliance. AAP’s Mehraj Malik, who won from Doda, also backed the alliance.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the largest party in the Jammu region, winning 29 of the 43 assembly seats in the division. However, it failed to open its account in Kashmir Valley.

Abdullah, whose first tenure as the J&K chief minister was also as the head of an NC-Congress coalition government from 2009 to 2014, when as asked whether any leaders from the INDIA bloc will be invited for the swearing-in ceremony, said his father and party president Farooq Abdullah will take the decision.

“He (Farooq Abdullah) is the leader of the INDIA bloc, and invitations, if any, will be sent in his name. Those whom I have to invite, I will send them invitations tomorrow,” the chief minister-designate added.