Owais Gul
Srinagar, Oct 15: As the Omar Abdullah led National Conference-Congress alliance is all set to form the next government on Wednesday, several INDIA Alliance leaders have confirmed to attend the swearing-in ceremony where Omar Abdullah will be taking oath as the first chief minister of the union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The oath taking ceremony will be held at SKICC here. The Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha will administer oath to the new members of assembly.
Jammu and Kashmir would witness the first elected government after the erstwhile state was downgraded to the Union Territory on August 05, 2019 when the BJP-led government in centre revoked the Article 370 and 35A.
NC Spokesman, Imran Nabi Dar said that several INDIA bloc leaders have been invited to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
However, he said only a few including Member of Parliament and President Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi from DMK have confirmed their participation in the meeting.
He added that the further confirmations are expected to be received by late evening.
Pertinently, NC had sent invitations to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Arvind Kejriwal, and D Raja.
General Secretary CPI (M) Prakash Karat will also be attending the ceremony. Karat has arrived in Srinagar today to participate in the ceremony tomorrow, sources said.
Moreover, Congress leader Ravinder Sharma has confirmed that All India Congress Committee (AICC) President Malikkarjun Kharge will be attending the ceremony while there was no confirmation about Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s participation till yet.
Sources said that Supriya Sule from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Sukhbir Singh Badal from Shiromani Akali Dal will be attending the oath taking ceremony.
It has been learnt that 50 top leaders will be among the dignitaries who will be attending the swearing-in ceremony.