Farooq Abdullah Announces Omar Abdullah as Next J&K Chief Minister After Alliance Secures Majority

National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah announced that his son, Omar Abdullah, will be the next Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, following the NC-Congress alliance's strong performance in the state assembly elections. The alliance has crossed the halfway mark, securing a comfortable lead.

In his statement to the media, Farooq Abdullah said, "The people have spoken. They have shown that they do not support the decision made on August 5 (referring to the abrogation of Article 370). Omar Abdullah will be the chief minister."

Omar Abdullah also expressed gratitude for the overwhelming support from voters. "While the full results are yet to come in, we are thankful for the victory the NC has achieved. The support has exceeded our expectations. Now, we will focus on proving ourselves worthy of these votes," he told reporters.

At the time of reporting, the NC had secured seven constituencies and was leading in 34 more. With Congress, its INDIA bloc partner, leading in six constituencies, the alliance is set to pass the 46-seat majority in the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

Omar Abdullah contested two constituencies, Budgam and Ganderbal, winning the Budgam seat by a margin of 18,485 votes, and leading in Ganderbal by 9,766 votes after 15 rounds of counting.

As the alliance surged ahead, Omar Abdullah took a jab at the exit polls, which had earlier predicted a hung assembly. "If you waste time discussing exit polls, you deserve the ridicule," Omar tweeted, having previously dismissed them as unreliable.

Earlier this year, Omar Abdullah ran unsuccessfully in the Baramulla Lok Sabha elections, losing to Independent candidate Sheikh Abdul Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid.