J&K: Omar chosen legislature party chairman; set to become CM
National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Thursday announced that his son, Omar Abdullah, has been elected as the chairman of the Legislature Party. The decision makes Omar the NC's chief ministerial candidate for Jammu and Kashmir. The announcement was made after a meeting at the NC headquarters in Srinagar.
NC-Congress alliance to stake claim for government formation
The next step in the process will see Omar getting a letter of support from the Congress, the NC's ally. With this support, he is likely to meet Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and stake a claim for government formation. The NC-Congress alliance together has 49 legislators ready to back their bid. An unnamed NC leader present at the meeting told news agency KNO that they plan to stake their claim by Saturday.
What is new government's priority
Omar had earlier said the priority of the new government was to restore the statehood of J&K. The Centre has said that J&K's statehood would be restored at an appropriate time. The erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into union territories of J&K and Ladakh after the revocation of Article 370, which granted the state a special status. Omar has also signalled that there would be no confrontation on the issue of Article 370, at least for now.
