Omkar Dattatray
Omar Abdullah the vice -president of NC and the leader of its legislature has been sworn as the first chief minister of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir along with other five ministers including a deputy chief minister on 16 of October 2024 at the SKICC situated at the banks of mesmerizing and beautiful Dal Lake in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir .But mind Omar took the mantle of chief minister-ship of a Union territory unlike his previous stint as the chief minister of a full-fledged state of J&K and he remained the CM for full six years from 2008 to 2014.But now he has took the oath of office and secrecy in the altogether different situation ,politico-social conditions and the oath has been administered by Lieutenant governor and no the governor because the constitutional head of the JK UT is LG and not the governor unlike the case in a full-fledged state. At the outset it is in the fitness of things to outline and mention that in the changed environment and political conditions ,Omar Abdullah has taken oath of office and secrecy as the maiden chief minister no doubt in the name of God ,but under the constitution of India unlike his previous oath as the Chief minister under the constitution of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir .Thus he said”,I omar Abdullah do swear in the name of God, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of India ,as by law established”—.This is the major difference between the oath taking in a state and a UT .The erstwhile state had been downgraded and downsized duly by the Parliament of India under Modi regime in August 2019 and the state has been bifurcated into two Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir & Ladakh .Along with it on the same day special status and position of Jammu and Kashmir granted by virtue of Article 370 as well as article 35 A of the constitution of India had been abrogated and revoked. Thus Jammu and Kashmir had been divested of statehood and controversial Article 370 of the constitution has been scrapped and JK had become a UT and continues to be so .Thus Omar Abdullah has become the chief minister of a UT and not a state and is now the head of government in a totally altered politico -constitutional arrangement and so he has to work as the chief minister under certain limitations and constraints .It is good that the new and first chief minister of the JK UT has emphasized that he will not neither antagonize the centre government nor the LG but work in coordination with both for the interest of the people who have once again reposed their trust and confidence on NC-Congress alliance .While navigating the ship of governance ,Omar should not work like the CM of Delhi Kejriwal who had remained in constant conflict ,tussle and friction with the LG of Delhi and the functioning of his government and governance had been badly impacted to the disadvantage not only of Delhi CM ,but of the gullible people of Delhi who suffered a lot due to friction between the UT government and LG’s office .And remember same Kajriwal is counseling Omar Abdulla to work in accordance with o his model ,but if Omar will follow the footsteps of Kejriwal, he is bound to fail miserably .However it seems that Omar Abdullah is sane and experienced enough and he will function in close coordination with the LG and centre government and keep liaison and cordial relations with both the LG and the union government and in this will lie that magic of Omar’s model of working and governance and it will be in the best interests of the people of JK .Omar cannot afford to annoy either LG with whom he as chief minister of the UT has to remain in constant touch or neither the centre government without whose funds and finances and blessings he cannot achieve much and required success in his governance which should remain people centric .Omar should have and possess the knack of attracting huge funds from the union government so that he will be successful in fulfilling his poll promises upon which the voters of J&K have given him a historical mandate to rule the UT .The chief minister has now to begin his task to address the day to day issues and problems of the people of both the regions of the UT .Omar should try his best to fulfill the poll promises and firstly he should not pursue the political issues of statehood as the Prime minister Modi and Home minister Amit Shah has umpteen time in the past and most recently during the assembly electioneering made their intention clear that the GOI is committed to restore statehood to J&K at an appropriate time and the chief minister of the UT should given the centre government enough time to grant full statehood .Omar should not begin his inning with confrontation with the centre government and its representative the LG who is after all the constitutional head of the J&K UT .Thus the chief minister should begin his stint on a positive note so that he can extract as much funds as possible for fulfilling his promises and freebies because without the blessings of the Modi government ,he cannot be successful in his endeavors no matter how honestly and sincerely he will work for giving relief to the alienated and orphaned people of Jammu and Kashmir .To begin ,Omar and his team of five ministers should concentrate on lessening the difficulties and miseries of the people of the UT in which they are engulfed .Pro-people governance should be the watchword of his government. The new coalition government should try to address the issues of cheap electricity and should also provide 200 units of free electricity as promised by the NC in its poll manifesto .Good roads ,good schooling for the children ,affordable health services and hygiene and hospitals ,provision of job opportunities to the educate and skilled youth ,availability of ,pure drinking water ,strengthening of eco-friendly environment and the like are the main issues which the new government should sincerely try to address for the people .Controlling the skyrocketing prices of the essential goods and services should also be an item of priority of the Omar government, though it is not the exclusive domain of the UT government ,but he should do his bit in this respect.MHA had already given enough powers to the LG Manoj Sinha much in advance of the assembly elections and it has tilted the balance of power in favor of LG .So Omar has to carry on governance of J&K within the limitations and constraints of the Re-organization act and its consequences .As the controversial Article 370 is a history and so there is no state flag as ours is a UT .So Omar has to make a tight rope walk in governing the UT and coming up to the expectations of the people who had reposed trust in him and his coalition.
But Omar should not lose heart and keep patience as his main poll plank the restoration of statehood is going to be fulfilled by the centre government and for that he and his government has not to worry and work hard.
Statehood is our constitutional and democratic right and we will get it soon and the government need to trust the centre government in this regard.
(The author is a columnist, social & KP activists).
