J&K: NC legislature party to meet today to elect leader
Srinagar: The National Conference (NC) legislature party is set to convene on Thursday to elect its leader after emerging as the single largest party in the recent Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. With 42 seats secured out of 95, the NC, in alliance with Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has amassed a comfortable 49 seats, positioning it favourably to form the government.
The party’s vice president announced that the legislature party meeting would take place at 12:30 PM, followed by discussions with alliance partners to elect the leader for the House. Omar Abdullah, the former Chief Minister and son of NC president Farooq Abdullah, expressed optimism about the swift formation of the new government. “Then we will go to the Raj Bhavan to stake the claim for government formation and ask the LG to fix a time for swearing in,” he stated, indicating that he hopes the new administration will be in place within days.
However, a rift appears to have emerged within the party regarding the leadership decision. While Omar Abdullah suggested that the alliance partners would jointly decide on the chief minister, Farooq Abdullah asserted his authority over the matter, declaring: “Whatever I have decided, only that will happen.” This declaration reinforces Farooq’s influence as the party patriarch and signals potential friction as leadership roles are negotiated.
In a broader context, Farooq Abdullah emphasised the government’s commitment to bridging the socio-political divides between Jammu and Kashmir, highlighting the need to foster trust among Hindu communities in the region. “Our endeavour should be that the Hindus there have this confidence in us that we will think about them in the same manner as about Kashmir,” he remarked, indirectly criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for exacerbating divisions. He stated: “We will not differentiate between the two. So what if they did not vote (for us). It is our duty to solve their problems.”
Despite the electoral success, the NC faces scrutiny from opposition parties. The Awami Ittehad Party, led by Sheikh Abdul Rashid, has criticised Omar Abdullah for not prioritising the restoration of Article 370, a central issue during the election campaign. An AIP spokesman accused him of avoiding critical discussions about the revocation of the Article, which previously granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. In response to these criticisms, Omar Abdullah defended his party’s stance on Article 370, stating that it would be “foolish” to expect its restoration from those who revoked it. Nonetheless, he assured that the NC would continue to raise the issue and strive for change. “We will continue to talk on this and hope that tomorrow there will be a change of government in the country,” he noted, expressing his desire for a more favourable political landscape for Jammu and Kashmir. Omar Abdullah also outlined plans for the first cabinet meeting of the new NC-Congress government, where he hopes to pass a resolution demanding the restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir. “After the formation of the government, I hope in the first cabinet meeting, the cabinet will pass a resolution impressing upon the Centre to restore statehood,” he stated, emphasising the importance of this issue for the region.
He differentiated the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir from that of Delhi, noting: “There is a difference between us and Delhi. Delhi was never a state. Jammu and Kashmir was a state before 2019.” Abdullah reiterated the commitments made by senior central government officials regarding the restoration of statehood, arguing that the recent elections were a step towards fulfilling that promise.
