J&K Election Results: Omar Abdullah Will Be Chief Minister, Says Farooq Abdullah As NC-Congress Lead

With the alliance of the National Conference and Congress set to win the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, NC chief Farooq Abdullah announced on Tuesday that his son, Omar Abdullah, will be the next chief minister of the erstwhile state.

"Omar Abdullah will be the chief minister," the senior Abdullah was heard as saying while speaking to reporters in a video shared by news agency ANI.

"People have given their mandate. They have proven that the decisions taken on Aug. 5 are not acceptable to them," he said, referring to the abrogation of Article 370 and the conversion of J&K into a union territory.

The next government has its task cut out, as it needs to address J&K's unemployment, inflation, and drug menace, the former chief minister added.

As per the data shared by the Election Commission so far, the NC is ahead in 41 seats, and its ally Congress is ahead in six assembly segments. This takes their coalition's tally to 47 out of the 90 contested seats.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is ahead in 29 seats, whereas the People's Democratic Party, led by former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, is leading in only four constituencies.

BJP leader Sofi Yusuf sparked a controversy ahead of the assembly poll results by asserting that Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has the authority to nominate five MLAs to the House. This drew protests from the Congress, NC, and PDP, who feared that the five nominated MLAs might tilt the numbers in favor of the BJP in the event of a hung verdict.

"The results that have emerged today prove that the 90 elected MLAs should solve the issues of the people, and not the Lieutenant Governor and his nominated people," Farooq Abdullah told reporters.

Omar Abdullah, who will take over as the chief minister as per Farooq Abdullah, had served in the role between 2009 and 2014. The 54-year-old had earlier said that he would not contest the assembly elections till J&K's status is reversed from a union territory to a state.

However, Omar Abdullah later shifted his stance and chose to run for two seats. According to the results available so far, he has won from Budgam and is leading in Ganderbal by more than 7,000 votes.