President’s Rule revoked in Jammu and Kashmir as Omar Abdullah set to return as CM

The Centre on Sunday (Oct 13) announced that the President’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir has been lifted, ahead of the appointment of a new Chief Minister.

A notification issued by President Droupadi Murmu said, “In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 73 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 (34 of 2019) read with Articles 239 and 239A of the Constitution of India, the order dated the 31st October 2019 in relation to the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir shall stand revoked immediately before the appointment of the chief minister under Section 54 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.”

This decision follows the victory of the National Conference-Congress-CPI(M) alliance in the Assembly elections, which took place in September-October. The National Conference (NC) has also secured the backing of four independent candidates and one MLA from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Omar Abdullah of the NC is expected to take over as the Chief Minister for the second time. This will be the first time Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislative assembly with limited powers, as it is now a union territory.

Jammu and Kashmir have been under either Governor’s or President’s rule since June 2018, following the collapse of the coalition government between the PDP and BJP due to disagreements between the two parties.

Initially, the region was placed under the Governor’s Rule for six months, as per the law, before the President’s Rule was implemented. The imposition of President’s Rule in 2018 marked the first time it had been enforced in Jammu and Kashmir in 22 years.

On October 31, 2019, the direct central rule was imposed after the state of Jammu and Kashmir was formally divided into two union territories: Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, was approved by Parliament on 5 August 2019. On the same day, Article 370 of the Constitution, which had granted special status to the former state, was revoked.

(With inputs from agencies)