Omar Abdullah

Omar Abdullah was a minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Indian administration. He is the son of Farooq Abdullah and grandson of Shaikh Abdullah.

n 1998, Omar Abdullah was elected to 12th Lok Sabha. In 1998-99, he was Member, Committee on Transport and Tourism and Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Tourism. He was the youngest Minister at the age of 29. In 1999, he was re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (2nd term). On October 13, 1999 he took oath as Union Minister of State, Commerce and Industry. On July 22, 2001, he was made Union Minister of State, External Affairs.

Later, he moved away from the Centre with an eye on Jammu and Kashmir political mantle. He probably will be the third generation chief minister from the Sheikh lineage. Many see his take over of the NC party leadership as a non-democratic carry-over of an autocratic system, which his grandfather, Sheikh Abdullah, rebelled against in the first place. His nomination as the new president of the NC party saw many resignations from senior party leaders, some of whom were close associates of the party founder, Sheikh Abdullah.

Farooq Abdullah’s strategy to abstain on voting in the House on the Gujarat issue, and Omar Abdullah’s giving in his resignation were seen all seen as moves by the father-son duo to establish Omar Abdullah in the Valley.

As a sign of the discontent with the Abdullah Families monopoly on the party, the NC under the leadership of the novice president, Omar Abdullah, faced a humiliating loss in the state. Omar was unable to get elected to the Legislative Assembly. He remains active, although shunned by the local populace, in Kashmiri politics as a leader of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. Omar was re-elected to the Lok Sabha for the third time in a row from Srinagar and he continues to represent that constituency..