Omar Abdullah unanimously elected leader of NC legislature party: Farooq Abdullah

Omar Abdullah

Omar Abdullah has been unanimously elected as the leader of the National Conference legislature party, announced party chief Farooq Abdullah on Thursday.

"A meeting of the legislature party was held where everyone unanimously chose Omar Abdullah as its leader," he was quoted as saying by PTI.

A meeting of the pre-poll alliance members is scheduled for Friday to advance the process of forming the new government, he announced.

Earlier, the newly elected MLAs from the National Conference (NC) convened at the party headquarters Nawa-i-Subah to select their leader, who is expected to also become the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

In the recent Assembly polls, the National Conference emerged as the single largest party, securing 42 seats. With its alliance partners, the Congress winning six seats and the CPI(M) claiming one, the coalition has comfortably surpassed the majority threshold in the 95-member House.

The meeting was convened by party president and Omar's father Farooq Abdullah.

"We have elected Omar Abdullah as the leader, it was a proud and emotional moment for all of us. We are happy about it, it was a unanimous decision. In the next one or two days, he will stake claim to form government. Four Independents have also joined us," said NC leader Salman Sagar after attending the legislature party meeting in Srinagar.