J&K CM Omar Abdullah Reveals Why He Chose Jammu's Surinder Choudhary As His Deputy

Five ministers including Surinder Choudhary, Sakina Masood (Itoo), Javed Rana, Javed Dar, and Satish Sharma also took the oath of office in the new J&K government led by Omar Abdullah.

Omar Abdullah on Wednesday took oath as the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister. He also chose party leader Surinder Choudhary from Nowshera in Jammu as his deputy, stating that he took this decision to give voice to the people of the region and make his government inclusive.

Five ministers including Surinder Choudhary, Sakina Masood (Itoo), Javed Rana, Javed Dar, and Satish Sharma also took the oath of office. After being sworn-in, the National Conference leader told reporters, "Our endeavour will be to take everyone along". He also said that there are three vacancies in the cabinet that will be "gradually filled," news agency PTI reported.

Choudhary is a former member of the PDP and the BJP. He emerged a giant killer when he defeated BJP's J-K president Ravinder Raina from Nowshera by 7,819 votes. Thereafter, he was chosen as deputy chief minister by Omar Abdullah so Jammu does not feel left out from the new government, which has been formed after a decade in the union territory.

"I had said that we will not allow Jammu to feel that they do not have a voice or representatives in this government. I have chosen a deputy chief minister from Jammu so that the people of Jammu feel that this government is as much theirs as it is of the rest," he said.

In the previous assembly elections in 2014, Raina had won the Nowshera seat by defeating Choudhary by a margin of over 10,000 votes. Choudhary contested on a PDP ticket in these polls. 

After his defeat, Choudhary resigned from the PDP in 2022 and joined the BJP. He then ended his over-a-year-long association with the saffron party to join the National Conference in July last year.

With todays swearing-in ceremony, this is the first time that a government has been elected since the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 and the bifurcation of the state into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

In the 2024 assembly elections held recently, the Omar Abdullah's NC won 42 out of the 90 seats, while its alliance partner Congress bagged merely six seats. However, together, the two pre-poll allies attained a majority in the 95-member assembly. Besides the 90 seats in the UT, five members are set to be nominated by LG Manoj Sinha.