Congress Will Not Be Part Of Omar Abdullah Cabinet, To Extend Outside Support: Sources

Congress and National Conference forged a pre-poll alliance to contest the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which took place after a decade.

The Congress party will not be part of the Omar Abdullah cabinet in Jammu and Kashmir and will extend support to the government from outside, as per ABP News sources. The development comes ahead of the oath-taking ceremony where Omar Abdullah will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. 

INDIA bloc allies, Congress and National Conference forged a pre-poll alliance to contest the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which took place after a decade. On Friday, Congress extended support to the NC for government formation after the meeting of its legislature party members. 

Later in the day, the National Conference-led alliance met Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and staked a claim to form the government for the first time in the Union Territory after the abrogation of Article 370. Omar Abdullah presented the letters of support from coalition partners —  CPI (M), AAP, and four Independents along with Congress. 

He also requested the L-G to fix a date for the oath-taking ceremony so the government could proceed with its functioning.

Congress 'Not Out Of Cabinet': Omar

Ahead of the oath taking ceremony, Omar Abdullah said that the Congress was "not out of the cabinet." 

"It's for them to decide, and we have been in discussions with them. I will not be filling all 9 vacancies in the council of ministers. Some vacancies will be kept open as we are in talks with Congress," he told PTI.

In the assembly polls that concluded earlier this month, Farooq Abdullah-led NC emerged as the single largest party bagging 42 of the 90 assembly seats. It also received support from four Independents, taking the tally of seats to 46, making it in a comfortable position even without the support of Congress.

Bharatiya Janata Party finished second with 29 seats followed by Congress (6), Mehbooba Mufti's PDP (3), one seat each by Sajad Lone's People Conference, AAP, and CPI(M), and seven seats won by Independents.   

The four Independents who extended the support to NC were Pyare Lal Sharma (Inderwal), Satish Sharma (Chhamb), Choudhary Mohammed Akram (Surankote), and Dr Rameshwar Singh (Bani). However, as per sources, none of the Independent MLAs will be part of the new cabinet. 

For the Wednesday event, Skina Itoo, Ali Mohammed Sagar, Hasnain Masoodi, Javed Rana, Saifullah Mir, and Surinder Choudhary are expected to take oath as cabinet ministers besides Omar Abdullah who will assume the office of Chief Minister once again.