Omar Abdullah retains Ganderbal seat; J&K MLAs administered oath

Srinagar: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has vacated the Budgam Assembly seat and retained his family stronghold, Ganderbal, as per an announcement by Pro-tem Speaker Mubarak Gul in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Monday. Abdullah had won both the Budgam and Ganderbal constituencies in the recently held Assembly elections.

The decision to retain Ganderbal, a constituency long associated with the Abdullah family, reduces the National Conference (NC)’s strength in the 95-member house to 41. However, the NC continues to hold a comfortable majority with external support from six Congress MLAs, five Independents, and one MLA each from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

During his first tenure as chief minister between 2009 and 2014, Omar Abdullah represented Ganderbal in the Legislative Assembly. The 54-year-old leader hails from a prominent political dynasty—son of former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and British mother Mollie Abdullah.

Meanwhile, the newly elected members of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly were sworn in on Monday, with Pro-tem Speaker Mubarak Gul administering the oaths. Omar Abdullah, as Leader of the House, was the first MLA to take the oath, doing so in the Kashmiri language, a significant moment as the third-generation politician had previously faced criticism for his limited proficiency in vernacular languages like Hindi, Urdu, and Kashmiri.

Abdullah’s fluency in these languages has improved significantly since his early political career in the 1990s, and his choice to take the oath in Kashmiri marked a symbolic connection with his constituents. The swearing-in ceremony ended a six-year legislative hiatus in Jammu and Kashmir. The Assembly includes 51 first-time members, among them the youngest MLA, 29-year-old BJP member Shagun Parihar from Kishtwar, and the oldest, 80-year-old Abdul Rahim Rather, NC MLA from Chrar-e-Sharief, who has been elected for the seventh time. The NC emerged as the largest party in the elections, forming the government with external support. The BJP secured 29 seats, marking its best-ever performance in

the region.