Omar Abdullah: From Oberoi employee to Jammu Kashmir’s ‘next’ CM | What the timeline says

Omar Abdullah, who was once elected as India’s youngest Chief Minister, is all set to assume power again. Abdullah’s party, Jammu Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) won the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024, the Union Territory’s first polls after Article 370 was abrogated in 2019.

Omar Abdullah is the third-generation politician from the Abdullah family, one of the most prominent families in Jammu and Kashmir. Omar’s grandfather, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, founded the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) in 1939.

Mint brings you a timeline of how the UK-born Omar Abdullah went from being a former ITC Global, and Oberoi employee, to becoming J&K’s next CM.

Omar Abdullah’s political trajectory

1998:Omar Abdullah began his political career at the age of 28, making him the youngest elected MP from elected from the Lal Chowk constituency, one of the major eight seats in J&K.

1999:Omar is re-elected to Lok Sabha, and appointed the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government.

Following Vajpayee government’s fall after just 13 months of being in power, Omar Abdullah contests as NC candidate again from Srinagar.

2001:Omar is elevated to the role of Union Minister of State for External Affairs. Around a year, and a half later, Omar quits Parliament to contest for state elections.

2002: Omar becomes the first in the Abdullah family to lose the Ganderbal family bastion by 2000 votes. Considered a NC stronghold, it has been represented by Farooq in 1983, 1987 and 1996. People’s Democratic Party’s(PDP) rule begins after JKNC decide to not hold any stakes.

2004: The youngest Abdullah son is re-elected from Srinagar.

2008: Abdullah made an emotional “I Am A Muslim, I Am An Indian and I see no distinction between the two” speech during the confidence motion in Parliament over Indo-US nuclear deal. In a column in Mint, Omar had called it “the greatest speech of my political career.”

2008: Omar Abdullah wins from the Ganderbal seat, garnering 28 seats for the NC, with Congress as its ally.

2009: Omar Abdullah is sworn in as J&K Chief Minister at the age of 38 years, making him one of the youngest in Indian history to hold such a position.

2014: Omar wins from the Beerwah assembly seat by a margin of over 1000 votes, but NC loses the election. PDP-BJP alliance forms the government

2019: Both Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti were put under house-arrest in the run up to abrogation of Article 370.

March 2020: Omar Abdullah is released from detention after spending seven months at a government guest house Hariniwas.

December 2020: The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an amalgam of six parties including NC win the District Development Council (DDC) in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sep-Oct 2024: Omar Abdullah wins the Assembly Elections from Ganderbal, Budgam, despite his earlier reluctance of even contesting the elections. NC-Congress alliance win 49 seats. Farooq Abdullah announces his son as the CM for the second time.