Rahul Gandhi Wishes Omar Abdullah On His Swearing-In As J&K CM, But...

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday extended his wishes to National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah on his swearing-in as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, marking the reinstatement of an elected government in the Union Territory.

In his message, Gandhi also reiterated the call for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood, which was revoked in 2019.

Photo Credit: PTI

"Congratulations to CM Omar Abdullah and to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. However, the formation of a government without statehood felt incomplete today," Rahul Gandhi posted on X.

"Democracy was taken away from the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and today we renew our commitment to continue the fight until statehood is fully restored."

Abdullah responded: "Thank you very much, Rahul Gandhi, and thank you for being with us today. The people of J&K look to you for your continued support as we strive to regain our statehood. Your presence today, along with Priyanka Gandhi, gave us great encouragement, and the family was really happy to spend some time with both of you."

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress General Secretary, also took to X to congratulate Omar Abdullah and the members of his newly formed cabinet.

"Many congratulations to the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Omar Abdullah ji, and to all the members of his cabinet. Thank you to the people of Jammu and Kashmir for raising the voice of justice and democracy through the power of your vote. Best wishes for the future," she wrote.

"The 'INDIA' coalition government will work with full dedication to restore the long-pending rights of the people as well as to fulfil all its promises and the people's aspirations," she added, in a clear reference to the issue of J&K's statehood.

Omar Abdullah took the oath of office in a ceremony in Srinagar, administered by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. This marks Abdullah's second term as Chief Minister, and he now leads the first elected government in Jammu and Kashmir since it was reorganised into a Union Territory following the abrogation of Article 370.

The swearing-in ceremony was attended by several leaders of the INDIA bloc, including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Prakash Karat of CPI(M), and Supriya Sule of the NCP.

No Congress MLA in the Cabinet

Omar Abdullah's new cabinet includes five ministers, with Surinder Choudhary from Jammu serving as Deputy Chief Minister.

When questioned about the absence of any Congress MLA in his cabinet, Abdullah stated that Congress party was not excluded.

"It's for the Congress to decide. We've been in discussions with them. This is primarily due to the fact that, as a Union Territory with a unicameral legislature, we don't have an upper house. Therefore, the size of the government is quite limited. Gone are the days when you'd see cabinets with 40 or 45 ministers," he explained.