National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah, on Friday evening, met the Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha in Srinagar and staked claim to form a government in Jammu and Kashmir.

After meeting the LG, Omar told media persons, “I have met LG Manoj Sinha at the Raj Bhavan and submitted support letters from NC, Congress, CPI(M), AAP and independent candidates. “I requested him to decide the date for the oath-taking ceremony at the earliest so that the government can start functioning. It will be a long process as there is the central rule in J&K,” he added.

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He said, “We have been told it would take two to three days. So, if it happens before Tuesday, we will have the swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday. All I want to say is that Jammu will not be ignored in this government.”

Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra said, “We have given the letter of support to Omar Abdullah and he will meet the Lieutenant Governor and will stake claim to form the government. We are looking forward to the date of Monday, October 14, but it depends on the LG what date he gives.”

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) extended support to the NC for forming the government in Jammu and Kashmir. This has paved the way for Omar Abdullah to become chief minister of the Union Territory (UT).

Omar was on Thursday unanimously elected leader of the National Conference Legislature Party.

A meeting of the CLP held in Srinagar in the afternoon decided to extend support to the NC, said the UT’s Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra who presided over the meeting after returning from New Delhi. AICC in charge of J&K Bharat Solanki was present in the meeting.

Karra said, “Today, in the CLP meeting, we unanimously passed a resolution and authorised the party’s Central leadership to choose our CLP leader. We have extended our support to the National Conference and we will hand over the letter of support to them in some time.”

Replying to questions on the demand for berths for the Congress in the coalition ministry, Karra said, “We have no demands. We are supporting the National Conference for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We will sit with them formally and at that time we will discuss what the model of governance will be like. The spirit of this alliance is far beyond the game of numbers and ministerial posts.”

He said, “The spirit of this alliance is very high and it has a great noble cause and we want to fight the menace of BJP, this is the spirit”.

It is worth mentioning that the strength of the NC-Congress-CPI(M) pre-poll alliance has increased to 54 in the house of 90 seats after 5 of the 7 independents and the lone AAP MLA Mehraj Malik have also extended support to the NC. The NC has won 42 seats, Congress 6 and CPI(M) 1.

After a meeting of the alliance in which Omar Abdullah is set to be elected as the leader, he will meet Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha to stake claim for forming the government in J&K.

Omar has already said that he was in favour of an early date for the oath ceremony so that the new government gets to work for the people.

Dr. Farooq Abdullah told reporters, “We have to end hatred and win the hearts of the people of Jammu. False propaganda was spread in Jammu that stone pelting, and terrorism would start there, but they did not see that their lands were taken away, and they do not have jobs, we have to eliminate that propaganda from their hearts. We want to live peacefully”.

We want the Centre to restore the statehood of J&K so that the government can work here. Jammu and Kashmir is the crown of the country, if the crown does not shine then how will the country shine”, he asked.

Replying to questions on Indo-Pakistan relations, Dr. Abdullah said, “It is not our job, it is the Centre’s job to decide whether to initiate talks with Pakistan or not. We want brotherhood. We should have good relations with all our neighbours. I hope the Indian government will restart SAARC so that we can live happily. We are the elder brothers of the neighbouring countries”.