Omar Abdullah: The ’Reluctant’ Candidate Poised to Become J&K’s First CM After Article 370 abrogation

Days before the counting for Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, Omar Abdullah ordered an ‘achkan’ blazer for himself and a ‘band gala’ for his father, Farooq Abdullah, from a leading tailor in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk neighborhood. The Abdullahs, confident about the results, were perhaps preparing for a swearing-in of the new government in the erstwhile state with the ceremonial outfits.

With Tuesday's counting leads indicating a clean sweep for the National Conference—Congress alliance, Omar, 54, is poised to be sworn in as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir for the second time. 

In the first term, Omar was the chief minister between January 5, 2009 and January 8, 2015. However, much has changed in the region since his first tenure – Article 370 Jammu and Kashmir stands abrogated and Jammu and Kashmir is downgraded from a state to a Union Territory.

Congress-NC way ahead

Omar’s party, the NC, is leading with won 42 seats, marking an increase from 15 seats it won in 2014 polls. It's alliance partner, the Congress, won six seats. With 48 seats for the alliance the alliance is comfortably placed to form the government. The result defies exit polls that predicted a hung assembly in the erstwhile state where the majority mark in assembly is 46.

“If you pay for exit polls or waste time discussing them, you deserve all the jokes/memes/ridicule. There was a reason I called them a waste of time a few days ago,” Omar Abdullah said in a post on X as voting was underway on Tuesday.

In another X post, Omar is seen holding a mug while interacting with Prannoy Roy, the former NDTV executive co-chairperson, who founded deKoder, an election analyses platform. He also posted selfies in different posts.

Omar won both the seats–Ganderbal and Budgam–that he contested. The win for NC vice president comes four months after he lost the Lok Sabha elections to jailed Engineer Rashid from Baramulla constituency in North Kashmir.

“NC is winning more than 40 seats on its own. People had no other option. I think more than a mandate for NC, it is a mandate against the BJP,” said a lawyer in South Kashmir who didn’t want to be named.

Born in Rochford, England

Born in March 1970 in Rochford, England, Omar Abdullah comes from one of the most influential political families in Kashmir. The family has given three generations of chief ministers to J&K–Sheikh Abdullah and his son Farooq Abdullah before Omar.

After his early education at the Burn Hall School in Srinagar and the Lawrence School in Himachal Pradesh, Omar pursued higher education at Sydenham College in Mumbai, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Commerce.

Omar’s political career began in 1998 when he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Srinagar seat for the first time. He became Minister of State for External Affairs in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, making him the youngest minister to hold the position in 2001.

Omar was one of the former chief ministers of J&K who was put on house arrest in the run-up to the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. Sporting an unkempt beard, Omar stepped out from detention in March 2020 – two weeks after his father, Farooq Abdullah, was freed, easing restrictions on opposition politicians in J&K before and after the Article 370 abrogation.

During a recent election campaign in September, Omar touched an emotional card when he removed his cap and held it in his hands while urging people in his Ganderbal seat to give him another chance. Ganderbal is an Abdullah family stronghold.

"I Am A Muslim, I Am An Indian"

In 2008, Abdullah made an emotional “I Am A Muslim, I Am An Indian” speech during the confidence motion in Parliament over Indo-US nuclear deal. In a column in Mint, Omar had called it “the greatest speech of my political career.” 

 Omar faces different challenges in second term.  As long as Jammu and Kashmir remains a Union Territory, Omar will need to deal with the Lieutenant Governor appointed by the Union Home Ministry.

In the run-up to assembly polls, Omar said he would not contest the elections until statehood for Jammu and Kashmir is restored. 

“It’s as simple as that… I am not going to sit outside the waiting room of the L-G and ask him, ‘Sir, please sign the file’, Omar told Indian Express in an interview. 

Omar, however, ended up contesting from two seats successfully. As counting ends, the swearing-in ceremony in Jammu and Kashmir will be next on the agenda. And who knows, if Omar wears the same 'achkan' that he is getting stitched from the Lal Chowk tailor.