Newly elected legislators were sworn into the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Monday, with 51 members taking the oath so far and the remaining set to do so soon.
The oath was administered by pro-tem speaker Mubarak Gul, who won his fifth term from the Eidgah constituency in Srinagar. Gul himself had taken the oath earlier, administered by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
Notable among those sworn in were Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, Congress legislator Nizamuddin Bhat, NC leader Altaf Kaloo, and several other senior leaders.
During the session, Gul announced that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had decided to retain his Ganderbal assembly seat and resigned from the Budgam constituency. Abdullah had contested and won from both Ganderbal and Budgam.
The assembly is scheduled to hold its first session on November 4, where the NC is expected to introduce a resolution demanding the restoration of Article 370, which had provided limited autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir before being abrogated by the BJP on August 5, 2019. That move split the region into two union territories—Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Only Jammu and Kashmir has a legislature.
This marks the first time in a decade that Jammu and Kashmir has an elected assembly.
The last elections were held in 2014, leading to a coalition government formed by the PDP and BJP, which collapsed in June 2018. After the BJP's abrogation of Article 370, there were growing demands for elections. However, they were delayed until the Supreme Court, while upholding the abrogation, directed the Election Commission of India to hold elections in September 2024.
The elections were held in three phases—September 18, September 25, and October 1. The NC-Congress alliance won 48 seats, two more than required to form a government, defeating the BJP. Omar Abdullah was sworn in as Chief Minister on October 16, along with five cabinet members, including Deputy Chief Minister Sur Choudhary, who seated BJP state president Ravinder Raina in Nowshera, Rajouri district.