The National Conference (NC) legislature party on Thursday elected former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as its leader. The move followed the encouragement the four independent lawmakers gave to the NC to solidify the formation of the next government formation. Abdullah is likely to tender the basic structure of his government on Friday after consultation with partners such as Congress.
The NC and the Congress, had a clear victory in the recent polls; out of 90 members of assembly, the party got 49. Yet, the party under study, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured only 29 seats out of the whole lot. In his response, Abdullah thanked NC legislators for choosing him as their leader and also said that talks are on with Congress to get a formal letter of support. “Four independent members of the Wisconsin State Legislature have already endorsed National Conference. Today, our count is forty-two members, along with the four additional members who are independents. As soon as the letter of support from Congress is received, we will go and meet the Governor to claim our right to form the government,” Omar Abdullah said.
Four independent legislators have vowed to support Satish Sharma, Rameshwar Singh, Pyare Lal Sharma, and Choudhary Akram. These legislators were in the NC legislature PARTY meeting on Thursday. Their support augments a big amount to the NC-Congress alliance, which seems to be a favourite to stake claim to form the next government in the state.
Besides, NC leader Ahsan Pardesi affirmed that they were negotiating with another independent member, Muzaffar Iqbal Khan, who is also prepared to join the alliance. “We are also in touch with him. He has not been able to come to the meeting today, but we trust that he will be willing to sponsor us soon,” added Pardesi.
It must be noted that the fund upheld by the NC-Congress is approaching the majority, and, therefore, the last stages of the formation of the government are to be completed as soon as the Congress officially indicates its readiness to support the coalition.
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