Omar rejects rotational chief ministership
January 5th, 2011 - 2:04 pm ICT by IANS
Jammu, Jan 5 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Wednesday said he would not vacate his post for his alliance partner Congress, insisting that he was “chief minister for six years”.He was addressing a press conference to mark the completion of his two years in office.
Omar Abdullah intervened when a reporter asked his father and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah about the fissures in the ruling National Conference-Congress coalition.
The chief minister insisted that the differences were an “imagination of the media”. He added: “There are no differences whatsoever.”
“When I talked to Congress president Sonia Gandhi in December 2008 before the formation of the coalition government in the state, there was no point of rotational chief ministership.
“I was told that I would be chief minister for the whole term of the assembly. Hence, I am chief minister for six years. And the Congress high command is happy with my performance,” Omar Abdullah said.
The issue of rotational chief ministership has been raised by the state’s most senior Congress leader and former deputy chief minister Mangat Ram Sharma.
Sharma raised the issue at a rally in Jammu in December 2010 when he said that the coalition can work smoothly “only if the chief ministership is handed over to Congress after Omar completes three years in office” in January 2012.
This is the first time Omar Abdullah has responded to the Congress leader’s demand.
The chief minister added that not a single cabinet meeting witnessed any differences between the two parties and that 25 meetings had been held in the past two years.
- Congress distances itself from rotational chief minister idea - Jan 06, 2011
- Congress steps up campaign for rotational chief minister - Dec 25, 2011
- My word on rotation of chief minister final: Soz - Dec 25, 2011
- Can't act against Congress minister: Omar - Jan 05, 2011
- Kashmir's ruling coalition panel fails to agree on urban bodies poll - Apr 09, 2012
- I was destined to become chief minister: Omar - Jan 05, 2012
- Will Kashmir's National Conference-Congress panel collapse? - Nov 20, 2010
- Farooq angry over talk of chief minister's rotation - Dec 27, 2011
- Omar invokes Dickens, destiny to describe tenure (Lead) - Jan 05, 2012
- Congress minister's pro-Omar remark draws party's flak - Oct 30, 2011
- Omar to reach out to Congress workers - Jun 30, 2011
- Poll victory shows alliance unity: Omar - Apr 13, 2011
- Kashmir minister says Sonia rejected resignation letter (Lead) - Feb 11, 2012
- Azad lambasts National Conference, PDP alike - Apr 19, 2012
- National Conference, Congress hold co-ordination meet - Jan 07, 2012
Tags: alliance partner, cabinet meeting, chief ministership, coalition government, conference president, congress leader, congress president sonia gandhi, deputy chief minister, imagination, jammu and kashmir, kashmir, kashmir chief minister, rally, sharma sharma, six years