Omar Abdullah on Wednesday took oath as the first chief minister of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir following the victory of his National Conference in the maiden assembly election after the abrogation of Article 370.

The oath ceremony of the chief minister and his council of ministers was held at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar.

The chief minister and his ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Jammu and Kashmir kieutenant governor Manoj Sinha.

Omar Abdullah, who takes over as chief minister for a second term and is the third generation of the Abdullah family to occupy the office – after his grandfather Sheikh Abdullah and father Farooq Abdullah.

INDIA Bloc leaders attended the event in full strength. Among those who had gathered at the SKICC were Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Mallikarjun Kharge, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Left leaders Prakash Karat and D Raja, DMK’s Kanimozhi and NCP’s Supriya Sule. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti also attended the event.

Omar Abdullah has been unanimously elected leader of the NC Legislature Party. His first term as chief minister was from 2009 to 2014 when Jammu and Kashmir was a full-fledged state.

The ministers who took oath are Sakina Itoo, Javeed Rana, Surinder Choudhary, Javeed Dar and Satish Sharma.