New Chief Minister Omar Abdullah – Dawn of new hope in J&;K

Jammu,  – The swearing-in of  Omar Abdullah as the youngest Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir is a momentous event in the history and politics of the State as he comes in with a new vision and considerable amount of expectations and promise.

The 38-year-old Mr. Omar bettered his father’s record of being the youngest Chief Minister of J&K. His ascendancy to the top job in the State is the beginning of a new dawn of hope and optimism in J&K.

Scion of the Abdullah family and President of National Conference, Mr. Omar Abdullah is the son of Dr. Farooq Abdullah and the grandson of the legendary Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah both of whom steered Jammu & Kashmir through the crucial years as heads of the State Government.

Born on March 10, 1970 at Rochford, Essex in England, the new Chief Minister inherits the allure of his father and vision of Sher-e-Kashmir and has all the attributes of changing the fortunes of the State which has grappled with troubled times for the last two decades.  In 1994, Mr. Omar was married to Payal Abdullah and has two sons, Zahir and Zamir. 

A management graduate (MBA}, Mr. Omar Abdullah has been educated at Sydenham College, Mumbai and University of Strathclyde, Scotland. In 2000, he was nominated as Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum. Widely-travelled, Mr. Omar led an Indian delegation to World Economic Summit in Rio-de-Janeiro, Brazil and the UN World Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa. He was also Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to Libya and a Panelist in the Special Economic Forum Annual Meeting in New York in 2002.   

Omar Abdullah is an ardent sportsman and known for his interests in tennis, skiing, swimming, squash and biking. His favourite pastime is reading while his special interests lie in finding a long-term solution to the problem of unemployment among the youth of Jammu and Kashmir.

After a brief stint with the private sector, in the first decade of his political career that has put him at the helm of affairs of the J&K politics, Mr. Abdullah has shown exceptional adaptability and political acumen to emerge from the shadows of his illustrious father and grandfather. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998 and again for a second term in 1999. Mr. Abdullah has also had two stints as Union Minister of State in the NDA Government. He was re-elected as MP for a third time when he won the Srinagar Parliamentary constituency in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls.

Omar Abdullah was Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry in 1999 and Union Minister of State for External Affairs in 2001 in the Vajpayee-led NDA Government. During his tenure as a Central minister, he was praised for his eloquence and communicative skills as also his ability to speak up for India in various international fora on the issue of Kashmir. He was also a Member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the Consultative Committee of Ministry of Tourism in 1998. He also served as Member of Committees on Commerce and Privileges, besides being Member of Sub-committee of the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce for Special Economic Zones.

Mr. Omar Abdullah has also distinguished himself as a tech-savvy politician who has favoured e-governance to speed up the pace of development in the State.