 "Omar Abdullah is first CM of J&K, the Union Territory. The story of his comeback")
Omar Abdullah has become the first Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The National Conference (NC) leader became chief minister, while party leader Surinder Chaudhary took the oath as deputy chief minister of the Union Territory.
Omar and his cabinet were sworn in by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha.
Abdullah previously served as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir from 2009 to 2014.
The Congress, which had formed an alliance with the National Conference ahead of the Jammu and Kashmir polls, opted out of the government.
As per Hindustan Times, this occurred after the party asked for two ministerial berths but was only given one.
Top leaders from both parties will meet and try and iron out the details after the swearing in, the source added.
New Indian Express quoted sources in the party as saying that it would provide support to the government from the outside.
The Congress won six seats and the National Conference 42 seats in the 90-seat Assembly in the reecently held polls —the first since 2014.
But how did Omar make a comeback?
Let’s take a look:
The 2014 debacle
In 2014, the last time polls were held in Jammu and Kashmir, Omar was the sitting chief minister.
The Congress and National Conference had gone their separate ways ahead of the polls.
As per Indian Express, Omar had contested from Sonawar and Beerwah in 2014.
In doing so, he had skipped the family bastion of Ganderbal – which he’d lost in 2002 to the PDP’s Qazi Mohammad Afzal – a decision which came as a surprise to many given that his father and grandfather had held the seat.
Omar was defeated in the former and won the latter by under a thousand votes.
Worse, the PDP, which had 28 seats in the Assembly, was reduced to just 13 seats.
The Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party, at the time led by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed won 28 seats.
Meanwhile, the state BJP under Nirmal Kumar Singh won 25 seats.
After the elections, the PDP and BJP formed a coalition government with Sayeed as chief minister while the National Conference was shut out.
After Sayeed died in 2016, Mehbooba took over as chief minister.
That continued until 2018 when the BJP withdrew support from the government.
In August 2019, the BJP-led Centre revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Centre also bifurcated the state into the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh.
Abdullah, meanwhile, was taken into preventative custody – along with the other mainstream Kashmiri leaders.
What happened this time?
The 2024 Jammu and Kashimr polls were conducted in three phases – on September 18, September 25, and October 1.
While the National Conference and Congress partnered up, the BJP and PDP chose to go it alone.
This time, Omar decided to contest from the Ganderbal and Budgam seats.
Omar, the day before the results, had shared a post on social media indicating he was stressed over the results.
He wrote on X, “By this time tomorrow it will all be clear. Now if only I could go to sleep & wake up 24 hours later I’d be a happy person. Nerves!!!!”
However, Omar kept to his schedule of going for a morning run.
“Counting day 7K done. Last time around it didn’t end well for me personally. InshaAllah this time around it will be better,” Omar posted on X.
Omar won by 10,000 votes and 18,000 votes in the seats respectively.
Omar was facing the PDP’s Ahmad Mir, Awami Ittehad Party’s (AIP’s) Sheikh Ashiq and Independent Ishfaq Jabbar in Ganderbal.
In Budgam, Omar defeated the PDP’s Aga Muntazir Mehdi.
As per Indian Express, Omar during the campaigning spoke about Article 370, “the importance of keeping the BJP out” and Kashmiri identity.
But he also focused on developmental issues and went from constituency to constituency asking people for their vote.
‘Many attempts made to destroy NC’
Omar on Tuesday said many attempts were made to destroy his party over the last five years by creating new outfits which have been decimated in this election.
“There were attempts to destroy the NC over the last five years. So many parties were created here, whose only aim was to destroy the NC. But, God’s grace has been on us and those who tried to destroy us, have been decimated in the process,” Abdullah told reporters here after receiving his winning certificate from the returning officer for the Budgam seat.
“I am thankful to the voters in Budgam for voting for me, making me successful and giving me an opportunity to serve the people of J-K once again,” he said.
Omar said the verdict has increased the party’s responsibilities.
“It is our duty now to come up to the expectations of the people through our work and that is what our endeavour would be for the next five years," he added.
Farooq has declared that his son Omar would be chief minister and that the result is proof that the people of J-K were against the abrogation of Article 370.
“The people have given their verdict and proven that the decisions taken on August 5, 2019 are not acceptable to them,” Farooq said.
“I am thankful to everyone that the people participated in the polls and did so freely. I am grateful to God for the results.”
The former Union minister said the elected government would have do a lot of work to end the “sufferings” of the people.
“We have to end unemployment and address issues like inflation and drug menace. Now, there will be no LG and his advisors. Now, there will be 90 MLAs who will work for people,” he said.
will be no LG and his advisors. Now, there will be 90 MLAs who will work for people," he said.
Mufti congratulates NC
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said the Centre should take a lesson from the decisive verdict of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls and “not meddle” in the affairs of the upcoming National Conference-Congress government.
She congratulated the National Conference leadership on its victory and said her party would play the role of a constructive opposition.
“I congratulate the NC leadership for its spectacular win. I also want to congratulate the people of J-K for voting for a stable government and not a hung assembly because the people faced several problems especially after August 5, 2019. A stable and strong government is very important for the redressal of those problems,” Mufti told reporters.
“It seemed that if there was not a clear mandate, then there would be some misadventure," she said.
The PDP chief said the Centre should take a lesson from the verdict and “not meddle” in the government’s affairs.
“If they do that, it will be disastrous and worse than what has happened to them now,” she said.
Mehbooba further said, “They (people) thought the NC-Congress alliance will provide a stable government and fight the BJP and keep it away. I think that is the biggest reason (for the victory of the NC-Congress alliance).”
The PDP chief also expressed her gratitude to her party leaders and cadre who worked for it “even in such a difficult situation” and appealed to them to not lose heart.
“We will play the role of a constructive opposition. The issues of the people do not end with an election,” she said.
With inputs from agenciese
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