National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. He was administered the oath by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Center (SKICC). Security has been tightened in and around SKICC in Srinagar ahead of Abdullah’s swearing-in ceremony as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. After the swearing-in ceremony, the Chief Minister will preside over a meeting of all administrative secretaries at the Civil Secretariat at around 3 pm.
The ministers who took oath include Sakina Itu, Javed Ahmed Rana, Surinder Chaudhary, Javed Ahmed Dar and Satish Sharma. Of the five ministers, two are from Kashmir and three from Jammu. This step of Omar Abdullah is being seen as creating a balance between the two regions of Jammu and Kashmir. Both Itu and Dar have been former ministers.
Congress leader and leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, AAP leader Sanjay Singh, CPI leader D Raja including India at the swearing-in ceremony Other leaders of the alliance were present.
Congress did not join the government
No Congress leader took oath today. Sources said that the Congress, which fought the assembly elections together, was demanding two ministries in the Council of Ministers, but due to low numbers, they were given only one ministry. Therefore the party leadership has decided not to be part of the government. However, the government will support.
Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee chief Tariq Hameed Karra said that the Congress party is not currently joining the ministry in the Jammu and Kashmir government. Congress has demanded from the Central Government to give statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. He said that the Prime Minister had also promised this many times in rallies. But statehood has not been restored to Jammu and Kashmir.
He said that we are unhappy with this step of the Central Government, hence at present we are not joining the ministry. The JKPCC chief said and added that the Congress party will continue the fight to restore statehood.