Omar Abdullah sworn in as J&K CM, 2 ministers from Kashmir, 3 from Jammu

National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah was on Wednesday sworn in as the first chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) since the region was stripped of its semi-autonomous status in 2019 and downgraded to a Union territory.
Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath to Abdullah and five ministers Sakina Itoo, Javeed Ahmad Rana, Surinder Choudhary, Javeed Ahmad Dar, and Satish Sharma. Two of the ministers are from Kashmir and three from Jammu.
The Congress opted out of the government amid differences over the number of ministers. It is believed to have sought two ministries but was offered only one.
A Congress leader said that top NC and Congress leaders will discuss the issue and try to hammer out a solution after Abdullah’s swearing-in ceremony. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, the Opposition leader in Lok Sabha, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attended the ceremony.
Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav, Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Prakash Karat, D Raja of the Communist Party of India, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam lawmaker Kanimozhi and Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar were among other Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) leaders, who attended the oath-taking ceremony.
Former minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir and J&K Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra were among the frontrunners to get ministerial berths. Congress leaders said the party leadership would take a call on this later. “Maybe Congress ministers will be accommodated after a few days,” said a Congress leader.
Mir said Congress ministers would not take oath until the statehood is restored. He maintained that Congress supports the government and rejected reports of differences with the NC. “We did not contest assembly elections for Cabinet berths…our priority is statehood and the welfare of our people.”
Karra said the Congress has strongly demanded the restoration of the statehood. He added the Prime Minister promised the same but the statehood has not been restored. “We are unhappy. Therefore, we are not joining the ministry…Congress shall continue to fight for the restoration of statehood.”
Abdullah, who took over as the chief minister for the second time, earlier on Wednesday visited the mausoleum of his grandfather Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, and offered prayers. He told PTI that the Union territory status of the region was temporary. “J&K is a Union territory, which is unfortunate in itself. But I have always maintained that our status as a Union territory is temporary. We have commitments from the government of India that statehood will be restored,” said Abdullah, who was expected to attend a meeting of administrative secretaries in Srinagar later on Wednesday.
J&K has been without an elected government since 2018. The NC-Congress alliance last governed the region from 2009 to 2014. It won 49 out of the 90 seats in the 2024 polls.
The Congress bagged just six of the 39 seats it contested. It was expected to do well in the Jammu region, where it was in a direct fight with the BJP. But it won just one seat there.