National Conference leader Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir today (October 16) in Srinagar. Take the oath of office.
Jammu and Kashmir got its first chief minister Omar Abdullah after six years of central rule. Omar’s previous chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir was his rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti until 2018.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) withdrew support for its coalition government and the People’s Democratic Party led by Mehbooba paved the way for the president’s rule in the erstwhile state.
5 ministers
Omar’s cabinet has five cabinet ministers, four of whom are from the National Conference (NC) and one independent MLA. The four NC leaders who were sworn in on Wednesday were Surinder Choudhary, Javed Rana, Javed Dar and the only woman minister Sakina Ittu (Sakina Itoo). Satish Sharma is an independent MP in Omar’s cabinet.
The Congress party, which contested the polls in alliance with the NC and won 6 seats, has decided not to participate in government affairs until statehood is restored in Jammu and Kashmir.
Surinder Choudhary – Deputy CM
NC leader Surinder Choudhary defeats BJP Jammu and Kashmir chief Ravan by over 7,000 votes in assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir’s Nowshera seat Ravinder Raina. Chaudhry was deputy chief minister under Omar Abdullah and a former member of the Legislative Council.
Chaudhry, who worked in the People’s Democratic Party before joining the NC, left the party in March 2022 to join the Bharatiya Janata Party. He quit the BJP in July 2023 and joined the national committee.
Sakina Ito: Lonely Woman MLA
Sakina Itoo is a senior leader of the National Council and a former minister in the state. She won the DH Pora assembly segment in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, polling 36,623 votes, defeating Gulzar Ahmed Dar of the People’s Democratic Party by over 17,000 votes.
Sakina’s father Wali Masood Itoo is also an NC leader and served as the Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. Wali Masood Itoo was assassinated by militants in the 1990s.
Ito is the only female minister in Omar’s cabinet. Three women MLAs have won the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.
Javed Ahmed Rana – representing ST
Javed Ahmed Rana won the assembly polls from Jammu’s Mendhar seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes. He had previously served as a member of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Rana received 32,176 votes, nearly 14,000 more than Murtaza Ahmed Khan of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who came second in the election.
Rana was born in Karaban village in Poonch district. He holds a bachelor’s degree and graduated in law from Jammu University in 1989.
Satish Sharma: Independent MP
Satish Sharma won Jammu’s Chhamb seat as an independent. He was one of many independent candidates who pledged support to the North Carolina Congressional Alliance after the results were announced on Oct. 8.
Sharma defeated BJP leader Rajiv Sharma by 6,929 votes in the Chhamb seat. Sharma is the son of former Lok Sabha member Madan Lal Sharma. The late Madan Lal was a veteran Congress leader who had won the Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat twice.
Javed Ahmed Dar – A face from North Kashmir
Javed Dar is a senior NC leader who served as a minister in the first government of the Congress-NC coalition led by Omar Abdullah.
Dar won the north Kashmir Rafiabad constituency by 28,783 votes. He defeated Yawar Ahmed Mir of Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party.
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