National Conference leader Omar Abdullah was today sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu native Surinder Kumar Chaudhary, who left BJP and joined the party, has been elected as the Deputy Chief Minister of the Union Territory. Abdullah took the oath of office along with five ministers – Sakina Masood (Itu), Javed Dar, Javed Rana, Surinder Choudhary and Satish Sharma. Omar Abdullah later revealed why Surinder Kumar Choudhary was selected as his deputy. He said that he does not want the people of Jammu to feel that they have no voice.
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Abdullah claimed that I had said that we will not let Jammu feel that it has no voice or representative in this government. He said that I have chosen a Deputy Chief Minister from Jammu so that the people of Jammu feel that this government belongs to them as much as it belongs to the rest of the people. Chaudhary defeated BJP’s Ravinder Raina by 7819 seats in Nowshera. He is the only National Conference MLA from Hindu dominated areas.
New Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary on Wednesday said it is a moment of pride for the entire Jammu region and added that the National Conference (NC) has always worked together with all the three regions including Ladakh. Chaudhary, who hails from Jammu’s Pir Panjal region, said the priorities of the Omar Abdullah government are to plug the gaps, address issues like unemployment, electricity and water problems, improve the functioning of hospitals and schools and tourism infrastructure. Have to build. He said that apart from this, ‘Darbar Move’ would have to be restarted which was an arrangement under which the state government used to work from Jammu and Srinagar for six months each.
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Who is Surinder Kumar Chaudhary?
The National Conference won four seats in Jammu, while the Congress got only one seat, leading to this strategic move. Chaudhary, 56, is a resident of Marha in Jammu and is the son of Dayal Chand. He completed his education till eighth grade from Government High School, Gajansu. Chaudhary entered the political arena by contesting the 2014 assembly elections from Nowshera on a PDP ticket. However, he lost to BJP’s Ravinder Raina, who secured 37,374 votes compared to Choudhary’s 27,871. Chaudhary and Raina’s rivalry dates back to the 2014 Nowshera elections, where tension escalated into a physical altercation and Raina had to be hospitalised. Since then, their political enmity has continued to grow.
