“The biggest challenge for Omar Abdullah this time is running a Government in alliance with Congress and winning over the trust and confidence of the Central Government run by BJP led NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah”
The Verdict of the just concluded assembly elections has brought regional balancing at the centre of the core agenda of National Conference the single largest party in new Jammu & Kashmir Assembly. The Government formation in Jammu & Kashmir is likely to take final shape just after 2-3 days as Omar Abdullah the legislature Party leader of National Conference the single largest party in the new assembly has said that he expects oath ceremony take place within 2-3 days . If all goes well as hinted by Omar Abdulla the oath ceremony of the new cabinet would completed the full scale restoration of democracy in Jammu & Kashmir. With the announcement of the date for the oath ceremony of the new cabinet the second longest spell of 6 years of presidential rule will come to an end and popular rule will return to Jammu Kashmir but as a Union Territory, not a state. While the longest spell of seven years of presidential rule in the erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state that commenced in the year 1989 had ended with National Conference returning to power with a thumping majority in 1996 under the leadership of Dr Farooq Abdullah, this time the same National Conference is returning to power with a thumping majority after six years of presidential rule but under the leadership of Omar Abdullah and with union territory status to Jammu & Kashmir. The biggest challenge for Omar Abdullah this time is running a Government in alliance with Congress and winning over the trust and confidence of the Central Government run by BJP led NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit. So for Omar Abdullah it would be really the job of connecting North Poles with South as once said by former Chief Minister late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed when he headed PDP-BJP coalition Government in erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir. With BJP led NDA in power at the centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for third successive term the biggest challenge for Omar Abdullah as head of NC-Congress coalition Government in Jammu & Kashmir as a Union Territory would be negotiating balance of power. So immediate priority for Omar Abdullah is winning the trust, and confidence of the Central Government for smooth functioning of a Government to be run in alliance with the Congress party in Jammu & Kashmir.
“Having gone through the experiences of regional and religious imbalances in his previous six year term of 6 years as Chief Minister of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir Omar Abdullah has started talking about the agenda of regional balancing to further the bigger cause of the stability of his new Government in Jammu & Kashmir which is now a union territory but not a state. So the strength of the new Government under the leadership of Omar Abdullah would be regional balancing and fulfillment of pre-election commitments for economic and social empowerment of the people if Jammu & Kashmir.”
As Omar Abdullah has himself said it confrontation with the Central Government won’t serve the broader purposes of the clear majority people of Jammu & Kashmir have given him and his National Conference. Though Omar Abdullah has the distinction of heading NC-Congress Government successfully for six long years from 2009-2014 with the backing of the then Central Government that was run by his coalition partner Congress but this time not Omar’s coalition partner but the biggest opposition party in the new assembly BJP is in power at centre for the third consecutive term. Having gone through the experiences of regional and religious imbalances in his previous six year term of 6 years as Chief Minister of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir Omar Abdullah has started talking about the agenda of regional balancing to further the bigger cause of the stability of his new Government in Jammu & Kashmir which is now a union territory but not a state. So the strength of the new Government under the leadership of Omar Abdullah would be regional balancing and fulfillment of pre-election commitments for economic and social empowerment of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.
Shafqat Bukhari
