Omar takes charge as J&K CM, says won’t let Jammu feel they don’t have a voice

In his first comments after taking oath, Omar said, “We will not let Jammu feel that they do not have a voice or representation in the current government. We have brought in a Deputy CM to ensure this and this will be our endeavour going forth as well.”

The MLA from D H Pora in south Kashmir’s Kulgam, Sakina Itoo, was the only woman among the five ministers who took oath Wednesday. NC MLAs Javed Rana, from Mendhar in Jammu’s Rajouri, and Javed Dar, from Rafiabad in north Kashmir, also took oath. Independent MLA Satish Sharma, who won from Chamb in Jammu, was also inducted into the Cabinet.

While the NC and Congress fought the J&K elections as partners in a pre-poll alliance, the Congress has not joined Omar’s government. Speaking to The Indian Express, Congress Legislature Party leader G A Mir said the party would join the government after J&K gets back statehood. “The Centre had promised statehood as part of a three-step process — delimitation, then elections, and statehood. Now elections are also over and there is no reason left for the Centre not to restore statehood to J&K. We will join the government whenever that is done,” he said.

At the same time, senior Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi attended the swearing-in ceremony.

Other INDIA bloc leaders, including Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, NCP leader Supriya Sule and CPI leader D Raja, were also present, as was PDP leader and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Omar and said the Centre would work closely with him and his team for the progress of Jammu and Kashmir. “Congratulations to Shri Omar Abdullah Ji on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Wishing him the very best in his efforts to serve the people. The Centre will work closely with him and his team for J&K’s progress,” he said in a post on X.

Dressed in a black sherwani and sporting his signature sozni cap, Omar took oath at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC), named after the title designated to his grandfather, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. After J&K’s special status under Article 370 of the Constitution was abrogated in August 2019, the SKICC had been designated a subsidiary jail where several political leaders from J&K were held for months.

Hours after being sworn in, Omar held a meeting with administrative secretaries. According to sources, at the meeting, Omar sought the cooperation of the bureaucracy and told the secretaries: “We have to bridge the gap created between the people and the administration during the last five years.” Chief Secretary Atul Dullo assured him of full cooperation of the administrative secretaries, sources said. J&K’s newly appointed DGP Nalin Prabhat was also at the meeting.

In his first post on X after taking oath, Omar said he had told the J&K DGP that there should be no ‘green corridor’ or traffic stoppage “when I move anywhere by road”. “I have instructed him to minimise public inconvenience, and the use of sirens is to be minimal. The use of any stick-waving or aggressive gestures is to be totally avoided. I’m asking my Cabinet colleagues to follow the same example. In everything, our conduct must be people friendly. We are here to serve the people and not to inconvenience them,” he said.

On Wednesday evening, Omar’s close aide Nasir Aslam Wani, the NC’s provincial president for Kashmir, was appointed adviser to the Chief Minister. In the Assembly elections, Wani had lost to the PDP’s Fayaz Ahmad Mir in Kupwara.

On Thursday, sources said, Omar is likely to visit the Warwan valley in Kishtwar, where a devastating fire destroyed an entire village on Monday, to take stock of the situation.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti termed the day of the swearing in as an “auspicious day”. J&K has an elected government after several years, she said, expressing hope that the new government would “heal these wounds” of the people of J&K.

She said the people have “rejected” the decisions of August 5, 2019, and added: “I hope the government will first pass a resolution stating that we reject those decisions. Our other concerns, such as unemployment, drug addition and power shortage, also need to be addressed.”