Just hours after taking office as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah instructed the Union Territory’s police to reduce “public inconvenience” during VIP movements.
In his initial directive, he advised the police to refrain from “waving sticks” and making “aggressive gestures” when he travels by road.
Taking to X (formally Twitter), he wrote, “I have spoken to the DG, Jammu and Kashmir police, that there is to be no ‘green corridor’ or traffic stoppage when I move anywhere by road. I have instructed him to minimise public inconvenience & the use of sirens is to be minimal. The use of any stick waving or aggressive gestures is to be totally avoided. I’m asking my cabinet colleagues to follow the same example. In everything our conduct must be people-friendly. We are here to serve the people & not to inconvenience them.”
Additionally, Omar Abdullah asked that the Jammu and Kashmir police not make a ‘green corridor’ available for his movement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his wishes on the occasion. “Congratulations to Omar Abdullah Ji on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Wishing him the very best in his efforts to serve the people. The Centre will work closely with him and his team for J-K’s progress,” he said in a post.
Omar expressed his desire to work with the Union government before the oath-taking ceremony.
“I have some strange distinctions. I was the last chief minister to serve a full six-year term. Now I’ll be the first chief minister of the Union territory of J-K. The last distinction, as in the one of serving six years, I’m quite happy about. Being a CM of a Union Territory is a different matter altogether. It has its challenges. I hope that the status of a union territory is a temporary one. We look forward to working in cooperation with the government of India to resolve the people’s problems and the best way to do that would be to start by restoring statehood to J-K,” he indicated.
L-G Manoj Saxena administered the oath of office to National Conference (NC) Mendhar MLA Javed Ahmed Rana, Rafiabad MLA Javid Ahmad Dar, DH Pora MLA Sakina Itoo, and Chowdhary MLA Surinder Kumar. All four were appointed ministers in Abdullah’s Cabinet.
The National Conference, led by Omar Abdullah, secured 42 seats in the recently concluded assembly elections.
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