Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday became the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir.
Mehbooba was administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor NN Vohra at a simple ceremony in the presence of BJP leaders Ram Madhav, Avinash Rai Khanna, and two former Chief Ministers of the State, Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah.
Mehbooba dropped six former Ministers who were part of her late father’s team and inducted new faces from both the BJP and the PDP to give fair representation to all three regions of the State.
Apart from Mehbooba and Nirmal Singh, who took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister for the second time, 21 other legislators took oath of office on the lawns of Raj Bhavan, ending the 87-day-long Governor’s Rule in the State.
After the ceremony was over, Mehbooba drove straight to the Civil Secretariat and was accorded the customary Guard of Honour. She also met members of the Council of Ministers at the Civil Secretariat and told them to work hard.
“This is not a challenge only for Mehbooba Mufti but for all of us. If we don’t perform, people won’t give us a second chance because there are alternatives available,” she said.
The Council of Ministers also placed on record the commendable contribution of late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to national and State politics, spanning over six decades.
Earlier, Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Jitendra Singh, who were expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony, reached Raj Bhavan at least 15 minutes behind schedule.
The Congress, however, boycotted the ceremony which saw the presence of a galaxy of people from different walks of life. Compared to Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s historic oath-taking ceremony on March 1, 2015 which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top brass of the BJP, Monday’s event was a low-key affair, with the Prime Minister and BJP chief Amit Shah giving it a miss.
However, the PM tweeted a congratulatory message for Mehbooba and Nirmal Singh.
“Congratulations and best wishes to Mehbooba Mufti, Nirmal Singh and all those who took oath today (Monday),” Modi wrote on Twitter. He also urged the State Government to work for aspirations of the people of the State.
Amit Shah in his congratulatory message said the party’s alliance Government with the PDP in Jammu & Kashmir will take the State to “newer heights”.
After the ceremony was over chants of “Bharat Mata ki jai” reverberated in the air while several BJP legislators said “Jai Hind” after taking oath.
Mehbooba herself took the oath of office in Urdu while her deputy preferred Hindi.
Mehbooba’s mother Gulshan Ara, siblings Tasaduq Mufti, Rubiya Sayeed and Mehmooda graced the occasion while her two daughters Irtiqa and Iltija cheered their mother and the Council of Ministers from the front row of the VVIP enclosure.
Four Ministers, including Sajjad Gani lone of People’s Conference, Haseeb Drabu (PDP), Tsering Dorjay and Abdul Gani Kohli of the BJP, took oath in English. PDP’s Syed Basharat Ahmed Bukhari surprised everyone when he took oath in Kashmiri while the BJP’s Chaudhary lal Singh, made his presence felt while taking oath in chaste Dogri.
Other PDP members, including Abdul Rehman Veeri, Ghulam Nabi Hanjura, Abdul Haq Khan, Choudhary Zulfikar Ali, Naeem Akther Andrabi, Imran Raza Anzari, Asiya Naqash, Syed Farooq Andrabi and Zahoor Mir, took oath in Urdu.
later, asking her colleagues to get down to get down to work immediately, Mehbooba said the urgent task before the Government was to focus on development, good governance and a corruption-free administration.