Omar Abdullah’s NC gets support of 4 Independent MLAs, reaches majority mark without Congress

With four independent MLAs joining their ranks, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) has achieved a majority in the Assembly, paving the way for Omar Abdullah to become the new Chief Minister. The party's victory is seen as a rejection of the revocation of J&K's special status.

Four independent MLAs decided to join the Omar Abdullah-led Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), which on Thursday secured a majority in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. Following this induction, the NC's Assembly strength increased to 46, precisely a majority mark.

Therefore, in order to establish a government in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister-elect Omar Abdullah no longer needs the Congress's backing. Following his unanimous election as the leader of the legislative party, Omar Abdullah is expected to take over as the new chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

Party chairman Farooq Abdullah said Thursday that Omar Abdullah was overwhelmingly chosen as the National Assembly's parliamentary group leader. The freshly elected ANC parliamentarians, who unanimously backed Omar's leadership, made the decision during a meeting.

The decision to elect Omar Abdullah as the leader was taken in a meeting held at the NC headquarters at the 'Nawa-e-Subha' complex in Srinagar city on Thursday. And the party will soon stake its claim to the UT's top post.

Farooq Abdullah had already told the media immediately after the election results for the J&K Legislative Assembly were announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) that Omar Abdullah would be the new chief minister of J&K.

Omar has told some reporters that the Assembly election results proved that the majority of people in J&K have not endorsed the revocation of J&K's special status. He said that had the people endorsed the revocation then the BJP and not the NC-Congress alliance would have got a majority in the Assembly polls.