SRINAGAR/JAMMU: With four Independents and the lone AAP MLA formally pledging their support to National Conference (NC), and alliance partner Congress, too, handing over a letter extending unconditional support on Friday, CM-designate Omar Abdullah met lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha late in the evening and staked claim to form J&K’s first elected govt since it became a Union Territory.
Omar, who was unanimously elected as the leader of NC legislature party on Thursday, drove to Raj Bhavan and handed over letters of support to Sinha. After coming out, he told reporters: “I requested him to fix a date for the swearing-in ceremony so that govt can start functioning. It will be a long process as there is a central rule here. The LG will first send the documents to Rashtrapati Bhawan, which will then go to the home ministry. We have been told it will take two-three days. So, if it happens before Tuesday, we will have the swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday.”
NC president Farooq Abdullah had said earlier in the day that the INDIA bloc would meet the LG on Saturday and seek a date for the swearing-in of the new govt. He expressed hope the alliance would get enough time to “inform our friends to attend the ceremony”, and said the focus of the elected govt would be on rebuilding J&K.
The backing of Independents and AAP has taken the alliance tally to 54, well above the magic figure of 48 in the 95-member assembly — 90 elected and 5 nominated.
There had been concerns regarding Jammu’s representation in the new govt, but Omar assured after meeting the LG that the region “will not be ignored in this govt”.
The support of four Independents — Pyare Lal Sharma from Inderwal, Satish Sharma from Chhamb, Chaudhary Mohammed Akram from Surankote, and Rameshwar Singh from Bani — is expected to ensure Jammu — where BJP won big, securing 29 of 43 seats — is not unrepresented in the NC-led coalition govt.
NC, with 42 MLAs, is the lead partner in the new alliance, while the position of Congress has considerably weakened, with the party winning only 6 of the 39 seats it contested. CPM, which was also a part of the pre-poll alliance with NC and Congress, and AAP have one MLA each. While CPM veteran Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami returned to the assembly from Kulgam, his stronghold for nearly three decades, AAP made a surprise debut with Mehraj Malik bagging Jammu’s Doda seat.
AAP on Friday posted on X that the party MLA had submitted a letter backing the NC-led govt. “Hope NC-INC govt supports the anti-corruption stance of AAP and its MLA Mehraj Malik,” it added.
Two more independent MLAs are likely to announce their support to the NC-led alliance, sources said.
Congress, which held a legislature party meeting on Friday, said it had no preconditions or demands for extending support to NC for govt formation. The party’s J&K chief Tariq Karra told reporters that the alliance was primarily forged with an aim to fight BJP misrule. He said the party “can suggest the measures on focus areas”, but after the new cabinet is formed.
Congress has also left the decision of nominating the CLP leader to the party’s central leadership.