Omar Abdullah stakes claim for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir

Omar Abdullah said that the oath ceremony will take time, as it does not involve the simple transfer of power from one elected government to another.

National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah met lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhavan in Srinagar on Friday evening to stake a claim for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.

National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah meets lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhawan on Friday to stake a claim for forming the government in Jammu and Kashmir.(J&K Raj Bhavan)

“I met the lieutenant governor at Raj Bhavan and submitted the support letters from the National Conference, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, CPI (M), and independent candidates. I requested him to fix a date so that the elected members can take their oaths and the elected government can start functioning,” said Omar.

However, Omar Abdullah, who has been elected from two constituencies, Budgam and Ganderbal in Kashmir, said that the oath ceremony will take time, as it is not a case of one elected government simply transferring power to another.

“Jammu and Kashmir is now a Union territory, which means Central rule is in place. The lieutenant governor has to prepare the documents and send them to Rashtrapati Bhavan first. From there, they will go to the home ministry. After the home ministry completes its process, the documents will be returned. We have been informed that this will take about two to three days,” Omar added.

This will be the first elected government in Jammu and Kashmir since 2018, when governor’s rule was imposed following the BJP's withdrawal of support from then chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.

It will also mark the first elected government after the abrogation of Article 370 and the delimitation of seats in the region.

The National Conference (NC) and the Indian National Congress (INC) alliance secured 48 seats in the assembly elections.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 29 seats, with 28 Hindu and one Sikh member elected, while none of their Muslim candidates including two former ministers were successful.

The polling for Jammu and Kashmir's first assembly elections in a decade was conducted on September 18, September 25, and October 1.