Omar Abdullah becomes first CM of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir

Srinagar: National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah on Wednesday took oath as the first Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370.

The fifty-four-year old Abdullah, had previously served as the chief minister of the state of J&K between 2009 and 2014.

He represented Srinagar twice in LoK Sabha from 1998 to 2009 and was the youngest Lok Sabha member and became the youngest Chief Minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir after forming a coalition government with the Congress party on January 5, 2009.

From 2014 to 2018, Omar served as leader of opposition in the erstwhile J&K state as he represented Beerwah constituency of Budgam district in the legislative assembly which got dissolved in 2018 after President’s rule was imposed in J&K.

The Chief Minister also served as the union Minister of State for external Affairs in Atal Bihari Vajpayee headed National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, from July 23, 2001 to December 23, 2002. However, he resigned from the NDA government in October 2002 to concentrate on party work.

After abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two UTs, along with other leaders Omar Abdullah was detained and on February 6, 2020 the government of India booked him under the Public Safety Act (PSA) which was revoked on March 24, 2020.

He was a member of 14 Lok Sabha, representing Srinagar constituency of Jammu and Kashmir.

Omar took plunge into politics in 1998, as a Lok Sabha member, a feat he repeated in subsequent three elections. In 2002, he took over the reins of NC from his father Farooq Abdullah. He couldn't retain his own seat Ganderbal, however four years later he contested assembly election and won from the same seat and became chief minister for the first time.

Ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Omar Abdullah showed unwillingness to go for a seat sharing agreement with other political parties under the INDI alliance in Jammu and Kashmir, and insisted on NC contesting all seats in Kashmir region and his decision proved right with NC winning two of the three Lok Sabha seats it contested in Kashmir.

The NC fought assembly polls in alliance with Congress and won 42 seats and Congress got six, CPI(M) one and AAP also managed to secure one seat. Later four independent candidates also extended support to Omar in the formation of the new government in Jammu and Kashmir.

The NC Vice President who contested from the two seats of Ganderbal and Budgam won both with an impressive margin. Months ago he suffered a setback in Baramulla when Engineer Rashid defeated him in Baramulla Lok Sabha Constituency by more than two lakh votes. However, defeat forced Omar to work hard and lead from the front which resulted in NC getting a massive mandate after almost three decades in the J&K assembly.