Ahead of his oath-taking ceremony as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah said on Wednesday that he "look forward" to working in cooperation with government of India but being the CM of a Union Territory has its own challenges.
While talking to ANI, Omar reiterated on statehood status to Jammu and Kashmir.
"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 own challenges. I hope that the status of a union territory is a temporary one. We look forward to working in cooperation with 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," Omar Abdullah said.
Further, he said asserted that the people of J-K has gone through difficult times and they have many expectations from this government.
He said, "Jammu Kashmir has gone through difficult times. People have many expectations and our challenge is to live up to them. We have a lot to do. We have to give people the hope that this is their government and they will be heard. They were not being heard for the last 5-6 years. It will be our responsibility to listen to them and act on it."
Omar Abdullah is set to take oath as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in Srinagar today.
The oath-taking ceremony will be held at Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC), Srinagar and the oath of office to Abdullah along with his council of ministers will be administered by J-K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
Posters have been put up outside Srinagar airport to welcome Lok Sabha LoP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who along with other INDIA bloc leaders like Akhilesh Yadav, Supriya Sule, Prakash Karat, Kanimozhi will attend the oath-taking ceremony of Omar.