Omar to take oath as J&K CM on Oct. 16

National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah is set to take oath as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, October 16, after receiving an official invitation from Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to form the next government. Abdullah’s swearing-in will take place at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar at 11:30 a.m.

In a letter addressed to Omar Abdullah, LG Sinha stated, “I have received a letter from Dr. Farooq Abdullah, President of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, informing me that you have been unanimously elected as the Leader of the Legislature Party.” The letter also acknowledged support from several political leaders, including J&K Congress President Tariq Hameed Karra, CPI(M) Secretary G.N. Malik, AAP National Secretary Pankaj Kumar Gupta, and Independent MLAs Payare Lal Sharma, Satish Sharma, Ch. Mohd. Akram, Dr. Rameshwar Singh, and Muzafar Iqbal Khan.

With this support, LG Sinha extended his formal invitation, stating, “I am pleased to invite you to form and lead the Government of Jammu and Kashmir. I take this opportunity to wish you a highly productive tenure and ­success in your endeavors for the benefit of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Omar Abdullah confirmed the news on social media platform X, sharing that he had received the letter from the Principal Secretary to the LG. “I was pleased to receive the Principal Secretary to LG Manoj Sinha ji, who handed over the letter inviting me to form the next government in J&K,” Abdullah wrote.

The National Conference-Congress alliance emerged victorious in the recent Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, securing a majority to form the government. Omar Abdullah, elected as the leader of the alliance, will now lead the first government formed after the revocation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories on October 31, 2019.

This development ends nearly five years of central rule, which was imposed following the BJP’s withdrawal of support from the PDP-led government in June 2018.