Omar to chair Admn Secys’ meet today, Cabinet tomorrow
* Top brass of Cong, INDIA bloc to attend swearing-in
* No Independent, none from Cong to join Ministry
Neeraj Rohmetra
JAMMU, Oct 15: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and KC Venugopal, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and other leaders of INDIA bloc are expected to attend oath ceremony of National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah as the Chief Minister and his Council of Ministry scheduled for 11.30 am at SKICC Srinagar tomorrow.
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Security has been geared up for the oath which will be administered by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
Insiders said the National Conference has decided not to induct any senior former Minister in the Council.
Besides Omar Abdullah as the Chief Minister, four Ministers will be inducted tomorrow in the Ministry.
They include Surinder Choudhary who defeated BJP UT chief Ravinder Raina in Nowshera and Sakina Itoo besides two others from Kashmir.
No MLA from the Congress and no Independent MLAs are being taken into the Ministry tomorrow.
“The new Ministry will have stamp of Omar Abdullah and mostly there will be new faces,” the insiders said.
When contacted, most of the senior former Ministers said they haven’t received any call to join the Ministry.
National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah has invited senior leaders of all 21 parties of INDIA bloc for the swearing-in ceremony of Omar as the Chief Minister and his Council of Ministry.
“In case where senior leaders of INDIA bloc parties are unable to join the ceremony, their representatives will attend,” the sources said.
Four senior Congress leaders including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and KC Venugopal, national general secretary, are expected to attend the oath taking ceremony of the Government.
Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav reached Srinagar today to join the swearing-in ceremony. AAP leader Sanjay Singh, MP will also attend the ceremony.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, who was invited by Dr Farooq Abdullah for attending the oath of Omar Abdullah, has deputed DMK MP Kanimozhi for the event as he had to stay at Chennai to monitor adverse weather condition forecast for the State.
CPI (M) leader Prakash Karat also arrived in the city to attend Omar’s swearing in ceremony.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and NCP (Sharad Pawar) supremo Sharad Pawar has deputed her daughter and Lok Sabha Member Supriya Sule for the ceremony.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray are not attending the ceremony. However, their representatives will join.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal are too not attending. Though they have been sent an invitation. CPI leader D Raja will attend the oath ceremony. Mamata’s representative will attend the swearing-in.
Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh, who has also been extended an invitation, will not be able to join due to important meeting of the Cabinet called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 10 AM tomorrow.
However, the Central BJP leadership has asked its newly elected MLAs to attend the oath ceremony as per their choice.
After being sworn-in as the Chief Minister, Omar will chair a meeting of all Administrative Secretaries at 3 PM tomorrow in the Civil Secretariat.
An order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) today asked all the Administrative Secretaries to attend the meeting.
Sources said Omar Abdullah will chair first meeting of the Cabinet on October 17.
“The Congress will follow coalition dharma . It will support the National Conference. There are no differences,” they said, adding main objective of the Congress is restoration of Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
If our MLA(s) are not inducted tomorrow, it will be done after the elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra,” the insiders said.
Preparations have been put in place for the oath ceremony of the Chief Minister and his Council of Ministers at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar.
Security has been tightened around the venue of the swearing-in ceremony, the officials said.
“The security has been beefed up especially as a lot of VVIPs will be attending the event. We will ensure the smooth conduct of the event,” the officials added.
Speaking to reporters on his arrival in Srinagar, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said Jammu and Kashmir’s Statehood should be restored now that the Assembly elections have been held in the Union Territory.
“I congratulate the people of Jammu and Kashmir for trusting democracy and forming their own Government, and for saving the Constitution. The next step after the elections is to restore full Statehood of J-K. I am hopeful they will get full Statehood,” Yadav said.
Yadav congratulated NC president Dr Farooq Abdullah and CM-elect Omar Abdullah for the election win.
“I am confident that he will fulfil his responsibility well and take J&K towards prosperity,” Yadav said on Omar who is set to take oath on Wednesday.
“The whole country was looking up to them. Samajwadis understand their feelings. The country can be prosperous only when J-K moves along with it on the path to prosperity,” the SP leader added.
Yadav said all border States in the country should have special provisions, facilities and decisions so that they march towards prosperity.
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