The newly elected members of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly were administered their oaths on Monday by Pro-tem Speaker Mubarak Gul. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took his oath in Kashmiri, as he was the first MLA to be sworn in, being the leader of the house.
During his election campaign, Abdullah faced significant criticism for his limited proficiency in Kashmiri. While fluent in English, his command over Hindi, Urdu, and Kashmiri was weak at the beginning of his political career in the late 1990s.
Despite this, he opted to take his oath in Kashmiri, marking a notable moment in the ceremony.
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary took his oath in English.
The oath-taking ceremony signifies the conclusion of a year-long legislative hiatus in Jammu and Kashmir, following the recently concluded assembly elections after a decade.
Among the 90 members, 51 are first-time MLAs, including BJP MLA Shagun Parihar from Kishtwar, who, at 29, is the youngest member of the assembly.
Veteran NC leader Abdul Rahim Rather, 80, is the oldest MLA. Sagar and Rather have been elected to the Assembly a record seven times from their respective constituencies.
Sagar has been a legislator since 1983, while Rather, a former finance minister, began his political career in 1977. Rather had lost the 2014 elections but made a return in these polls.
The National Conference (NC) emerged as the single largest party, winning 42 seats, while its ideological rival, the BJP, secured 29 seats in the Jammu division.
The NC formed the government with external support from Congress, which won six seats. Five independent MLAs, along with one MLA each from the AAP and CPI(M), have also extended their support.
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