New Delhi: The Congress will not be part of the new Jammu and Kashmir government – despite having allied with Chief Minister-elect Omar Abdullah’s National Conferenceto win last month’s election – sources told NDTV Wednesday morning. The party – which sources said also declined the offer of one ministerial berth in the incoming government – will offer support from the outside instead.
However, three senior leaders – Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge; Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition the Lok Sabha; and the party’s General Secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – are expected at the swearing-in, which may also see eight ministers take oath with Mr Abdullah.
Omar Abdullah will be sworn in as the new Chief Minister – Jammu and Kashmir’s first elected head of state in a decade – after guiding his party to victory in the September-October election.
Speaking after his election win, Mr Abdullah had underlined a key expectation of his government – the restoration of J&K’s statehood that was revoked after Article 370 was scrapped in August 2019.
This morning he told news agency ANI, “We have a lot to do. We have to give people hope… that this is their government, and they will be heard. They were not heard for the past five-six years…”
In a remarkable turnaround months after losing a Lok Sabha seat race – in Baramulla in north Kashmir – Omar Abdullah contested won the Budgam and Ganderbal Assembly seats in this election.
The NC dominated the Assembly election, winning 42 of the former state’s 90 elected seats. The Congress – expected to do well – flopped, winning only six seats; it won 12 in the 2014 election.
This meant the Kashmiri party claimed ‘big brother’ status in the alliance and could name the Chief Minister; NC patriarch Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah’s father, quickly named his son.
The NC’s hand was further strengthened by four independents and the lone Aam Aadmi Party legislator also offering support – to the party and not its alliance with the Congress.
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