The Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir officially got its first elected government on Wednesday after National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the chief minister. The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar.
Jammu & Kashmir will now be led by a National Conference-Congress alliance and Omar Abdullah, who had been the chief minister previously before the region’s statehood was scrapped, will lead as the first chief minister of the UT.
Along with Abdullah, his cabinet ministers also assumed office beginning Wednesday and Surinder Kumar Choudhary took oath as deputy chief minister.
The new cabinet comprises five ministers, four from the National Conference and one independent MLA, and represents all three regions—South, Central, and North Kashmir.
Although the cabinet was supposed to have nine members as per the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, only five ministers took oath. The Congress party chose not to take a ministerial role in the government, despite its alliance with the National Conference,
The ministers who officially joined Abdullah’s cabinet include:
Surinder Kumar Choudhary: The new deputy chief minister was elected from Nowshera, after defeating BJP's state chief Ravinder Raina by 7,819 votes. A former member of the Legislative Council, Choudhary switched from PDP to BJP in March 2022 and later to the NC in July 2023.
Sakina Itoo: She is the only female minister in the cabinet. Securing 36,623 votes, Itoo won from the DH Pora assembly segment in South Kashmir against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Gulzar Ahmad Dar with a margin of 17,449.
She has previously served as the minister in the past for various departments including social welfare, administrative reforms, education, and tourism.
Javed Ahmed Rana: Obtaining 32,176 votes, Rana defeated BJP's Murtaza Ahmed Khan by 14,906 votes, and secured victory in Mendhar. He has served in both the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council of the state before it was transformed into UT.
Satish Sharma: An independent candidate from Chhamb, Sharma defeated BJP leader Rajeev Sharma by 6,929 votes. After being denied a ticket by Congress, he contested the elections independently and later extended his support for the NC-Congress alliance.
Javed Ahmed Dar: A senior member of the National Conference, Dar won from the Rafiabad constituency, securing 28,783 votes against the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party’s Yawar Ahamd Mir.
