Bula Devi reports from New Delhi
New Delhi Oct 15:- Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has invited National Conference leader Omar Abdullah to form and lead the government of Jammu and Kashmir. The Lt-Governor will administer the oath of office to him and to the council of ministers on October 16 at 11.30 am.
In a letter to the Chief Minister-designate on Monday, the Lt-Governor said he had received a letter from National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on October 11 stating that Omar had been “unanimously elected as (the) Leader of the Legislative Party.”
The Lt-Governor also said he had received letters of support for the formation of a government led by Omar from J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president Hameed Karra, CPM secretary GN Malik, Aam Aadmi Party National Secretary Pankaj Kumar Gupta and five Independent MLAs — Payare Lal Sharma, Satish Sharma, Ch. Mohd Akram, Dr Rameshwar Singh and Muzafar Iqbal Khan.
Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir was held recently after a decade. Article 370 was abrogated on August 5, 2019 and President’s rule was imposed on October 31, 2019. President’s rule was revoked yesterday (October 13) following the National Conference winning a majority in alliance with the Congress and the CPM.
There are huge expectations from the government in the Kashmir Valley as well as in Jammu. The new government is likely to face a lot of challenges especially as many critical powers such as law and order will be vested with the Lt-Governor, which by extension means the Centre. But even though his powers will be curtailed, Omar has already gone on record stating that he would not like to take a confrontationist stand with the central government and he hoped that both, Jammu and Kashmir and the Centre, would work together for a better future of the Union Territory.