Omar Abdullah has expressed hope that the status of a Union Territory turns out to be temporary for Jammu and Kashmir.
Srinagar:
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah has been sworn in as the Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which got its first government since losing its special status. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha also administered oath to five other lawmakers from his party – Sakina Masood (Itoo), Javed Dar, Javed Rana, Surinder Choudhary, and Satish Sharma.
The Congress – which had allied with Mr Abdullah’s party but put up a flop show in the elections – has opted to sit out of the government. Sources told Media this morning it was offered one ministerial berth, which it declined and chose to extend support from outside.
Top leaders of the INDIA alliance – Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress’s Priyanka Gandhi, Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, DMK’s K Kanimozhi, NCP’s Supriya Sule, CPI’s D Raja, and AAP’s Sanjay Singh – attended the swearing-in ceremony at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre in Srinagar.
Mehbooba Mufti, chief of the Peoples Democratic Party and former chief minister, was also present.
