Breaking the 6-year long legislative gap, newly-elected MLAs of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly were on Monday administered oath by pro-tem Speaker Mubarak Gul even as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took the pledge in Kashmiri language.
Omar (54) was the first to be administered the oath in his capacity as leader of the house.
Deputy CM Surinder Choudhary, who comes from the Pahari region of Rajouri district, took the oath in English.
Among the 51 first timers in the House of 90, BJP MLA from Kishtwar Shagun Parihar is the youngest at 29 years, whereas National Conference MLA Abdul Rahim Rather is the oldest at 80.
NC MLA Ali Mohammad Sagar has been elected for a record seventh time. CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami is in the Assembly for the fifth term.
BJP MLAs donned traditional saffron turbans. Party’s senior MLA Devender Rana took the oath in Jammu’s native Dogri language, while Shagun Parihar took the pledge in Sanskrit.
The BJP MLAs were later felicitated by party leaders.
By winning 42 seats, the National Conference (NC) emerged as the single largest party in the Assembly. Omar Abdullah formed the government with the outside support of the Congress with 6 MLAs, one MLA each from CPI(M) and AAP and independents.
The BJP won 29 seats in the Jammu region and came out as the second largest party.
The UT’s cabinet had recommended to Lt Governor Manoj Sinha to convene the first session of the Assembly from November 4.