J&K Leader of the House to be decided on Oct 10: NC leader Sheikh Bashir

Jammu, Oct 9
The Congress-National Conference (NC) alliance has secured a decisive victory in the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Assembly elections, winning 49 out of the 90 seats declared.

Senior NC leader Sheikh Bashir informed IANS on Wednesday that a legislature party meeting is scheduled for Thursday, where the Leader of the House for the Legislative Assembly will be chosen.

"Today, it was decided that we will each celebrate within our respective areas. The legislature party meeting will take place tomorrow, and during the meeting, the Leader of the House will be chosen. Only after that will the future strategy be decided," Bashir said.

Following the selection of the Leader of the House, a proposal will be submitted to the Lieutenant Governor regarding the formation of the government.

"After that, the oath-taking ceremony will take place, and we will proceed with the work to fulfil the promises made in our election manifesto," he added, suggesting that the oath ceremony might occur as early as next week.

The two parties had declared a seat-sharing arrangement for 83 seats - 51 for the National Conference and 32 for the Congress - mostly in Jammu region, and a 'friendly fight' on five seats as they were unable to reach a consensus.

Out of the 56 seats it contested, the National Conference ended up winning 42 across both the Kashmir Valley and the Jammu region, achieving a 75 per cent strike rate. It also notched up an impressive win in the Nowshera seat where its Surinder Kumar Choudhry defeated the BJP's J&K President Ravinder Raina.

However, its tally may dip by one as party Vice President and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has won from both the seats of Ganderbal and Budgam that he contested.

Meanwhile, NC chief Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday announced that his son, Omar Abdullah, would become the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir for the second time.

"Omar Abdullah will be the Chief Minister," Farooq Abdullah told reporters here when asked who would be the alliance's CM face.