Who is who in Omar's cabinet - Greater Kashmir

Srinagar, Oct 16: Jammu and Kashmir got its first chief minister in over five years as JKNC vice president Omar Abdullah and his council of ministers took oath at SKICC, Srinagar.

While Omar took oath as the chief minister, his party’s leader from Nowshera constituency in Jammu Surinder Kumar Choudhary took oath as the deputy Chief minister.

Surinder Kumar Choudhary, a seasoned politician of the Nowshera constituency, clinched victory in a fierce contest against his rival, Ravindra Raina of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with a margin of 7,819 votes. Choudhary got 35,069 while Raina got 27,250 votes.

JKNC’s leader from north Kashmir’s Rafiabad Javid Ahmad Dar also took oath as Omar’s cabinet minister. Dar won his Rafiabad seat in the recently concluded assembly elections with 28,783 votes.

Party leader from Damhal Hanjipora in south of Kashmir Sakina Itoo also took oath as the cabinet minister of the new J&K government. Itoo is among the only three women elected in the 90-member assembly of J&K.

Sakina, a former minister and senior leader of the National Conference, secured victory from the DH Pora Assembly segment in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district. She bagged 36,623 votes, achieving an impressive victory margin of 17,449 votes over her nearest rival, Gulzar Ahmed Dar of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Sakina has served as the minister for various departments including social welfare, administrative reforms, education and tourism. She was 26 years old when she won her first assembly election in 1996, making her the youngest member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

After winning the election, she posted, “Thank you to every voter who placed their trust in me – this victory is yours! Grateful for your support and belief in our vision. Congratulations to my incredible colleagues at @JKNC and to those who didn’t make it this time, your dedication and hard work made us all stronger.”

Another JKNC leader to take oath as the cabinet minister was Javed Ahmed Rana who won the election from Mendhar in J-K’s Poonch.

Rana was the JKNC’s candidate from 90 Mendhar (St) Scheduled Tribe Assembly constituency in the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.

His profession according to the election affidavit filed with the Election Commission of India, and as analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections 2024 is: Ex Member Legislative Assembly.

Rana, 61, is a Graduate and his total declared assts are worth Rs 8-crore, which includes Rs 1.8 crore in movable assets and Rs 6.2 crore in immovable assets. His total declared income is Rs 12.1 lakh of which Rs 4.9 lakh is self-income. He has declared total liabilities of Rs 68.1 lakh.

Another minister to take oath as the cabinet minister was Satish Sharma.

Sharma won as the independent candidate from 82 Chhamb assembly constituency.

As per the affidavit filed with the Election Commission of India and as analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) for the J&K assembly elections 2024, Sharma is self-employed.

The 42-year-old is a post-graduate with total declared assets of Rs 7.1 crore which includes Rs 1.4 crore in movable assets and Rs 5.7 crore in immovable assets. His total declared income is Rs 29.3 lakh of which Rs 7 lakh is self-income. He has declared total liabilities of Rs 11.2 lakh.

He has 0 criminal cases registered against him as per the affidavit.