Omar meets Lt Governor, stakes claim for Govt formation

Srinagar, Oct 11: National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah Friday met Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to present a letter of support from his party, Congress, CPI(M), AAP and Independent candidates. Omar also staked claim on government formation but stated that the oath ceremony may take a few more days and would likely to be held on Wednesday as LG office will forward papers to first president’s office in New Delhi and Home Ministry.
“Today, I met LG and presented the letters of support from NC, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and independents. I also stake a claim on government formation. I requested the LG to give us a date so that we can take oath and the new government starts functioning. We were told it would take a few days,” Omar told reporters after his return from Rajbhawan.
He said it is not that one elected government is shifting power to another one. “We are governed by Centre’s rule and we are a Union Territory. The LG office will have to prepare papers now and forward the same to Rashtrapati Bhawan and then Home Ministry in New Delhi,” said Omar.
Omar, who is the Chief Minister designate, said that he is of the belief that if things go well, swearing in ceremony would now be held on Wednesday.
Asked about who are the dignitaries invited for the oath ceremony, he said his father Dr Farooq Abdullah is the leader of INDIA alliance, he knows better who have been invited by him. “I will make a list tomorrow and start sending invitations to people. From tomorrow, we will start preparations for the oath ceremony,” Omar said.
About any demands from Congress, he said the party presented us with a letter of support. “Whatever we had to discuss, we discussed,” he said. To a query that Jammu people would have very less representation in the new government, Omar said: “There would be no injustice with Jammu.”
It may be recalled that Omar was yesterday (Monday) choosen NC’s Legislature Party leader in a marathon meeting held at Nawa-e-Subh headquarters.
Earlier, in the day, the J&K Congress party held a Legislature Party meeting in Srinagar where they decided to present the letter of support from its six legislators to NC. The recently concluded polls saw the downfall of Congress that fought Assembly polls in a pre-poll alliance with NC. The party could only bag just six seats.
On the contrary, NC swept Kashmir by pocketing 42 seats on its own. NC tally has mounted to 46 as four independents, rather NC rebels, also extended letters of support to the party. Sources said the NC-Congress alliance party meet will take place tomorrow. J&K witnessed three-phased elections from September 18 this year that saw record participation of people. While NC got unexpected results from Kashmir, BJP gained ground in Jammu and settled at 29 seats. The party claims it will sit in opposition to raise issues pertaining to Jammu region.