Omar Abdullah Oath Ceremony: Omar Abdullah Takes Oath As CM Along With Surinder Choudhary As Deputy CM

NC Vice President Omar Abdullah on Wednesday took oath as the first chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir since it became a union territory in 2019. Surinder Kumar Choudhary took oath as Abdullah's deputy. Javed Dar, Sakina Itoo, Javed Rana and Satish Sharma also took the oath in Abdullah's Cabinet at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre in Kashmir. Congress in a statement said it is not joining the Ministry in the Jammu and Kashmir government at the moment. The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) Chief Tariq Hameed Karra said, "Congress has strongly demanded the Centre to restore statehood to J&K, besides the Prime Minister has time and again in public meetings promised the same. But the statehood has not been restored. We are unhappy therefore we are not joining the Ministry at the moment." He said the Congress party will continue to fight for restoration of statehood. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy to Abdullah and his ministers at the ceremony that began at 11:30 am. Congress's Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are among the top leaders of the Opposition INDIA bloc present for the ceremony. JKNC chief Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, AAP leader Sanjay Singh, CPI leader D Raja were also present there. Minutes before taking the oath, Abdullah said there is a lot to do for the union territory.