Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. Along with him, five other MLAs took oath as the Cabinet ministers. The new Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet includes Javed Ahmad Dar, Javed Ahmed Rana, Sakina Itoo, Surender Choudhary, and Satish Sharma. One of the important names among them is Satish Sharma, who was elected from the Chhamb Assembly constituency as an independent.
Who is Satish Sharma?
Satish Sharma is the son of former MP Madal Lal Sharma. He was a Congress leader, but after the infighting over ticket distribution, he left the party and contested as an independent. Congress gave the ticket to former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand.
Contesting as an independent, he defeated the BJP's Rajeev Sharma with a margin of 6,920 votes. Tara Chand finished third. After his victory, he extended support to the NC to form a government. Accordingly, Omar Abdullah took him to the Cabinet. Among five new Cabinet ministers, two are from the Hindu community, including Satish Sharma.
The other ministers who took oath as Cabinet ministers include Javed Ahmed Rana, Surinder Kumar Choudhary, Sakeena Masood Itoo, and Javed Ahmad Dar.
Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024
Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections were held in three phases from September 18 to October 1. The results were declared on October 8. The NC won 42 out of the 90 seats, while the Congress won six. Together, the two pre-poll allies hold a majority in the 90-member Assembly. Their strength is further bolstered by the support from five Independent MLAs and a lone Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member. Omar Abdullah's first term as the CM of Jammu and Kashmir was from 2009 to 2015. At that time, Jammu and Kashmir was a state. In 2019, Article 370 was abrogated, and later the state was divided into two Union Territories (UTs), Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
(With inputs from agencies)
