Hopes of economic and political stability for Jammu and Kashmir were kindled on Monday as Omar Abdullah took oath as state’s youngest chief minister in what is also the revival of the Gandhi-Abdullah ties after nearly 21 years of bitterness between the two political clans when militancy ravaged the state and the National Conference, too, stayed in opposition.

And as both the Congress and the NC sought to give equal representation to all the regions and ethnic identities of the state in a bid to allay fears of discrimination, Governor N N Vohra administered the oath of office to nine ministers along with Omar.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister for Water Resource Development and Pradesh Congress Committee president Saifudin Soz, Congress MP and erstwhile Sadar-i-Riyasat Dr Karan Singh, Omar’s Father and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah, brother-in-law Sachin Pilot, mother Molly, wife Payal and children were also present at the swearing-in.

Significantly, a number of business tycoons of the country — Bharti Airtel’s Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Bharti Mittal, Director of the Batra Group of Industries Narendar Batra, Vivek Nair of the Leela Group of Hotels, Naveen Jindal of Jindal group of Industries, Director of the JP Group of Industries Sameer Gour and Zee TV owner Subash Chandra — were also present at the ceremony as special invitees. Narendar Batra said there was a lot of scope for investment in the state. “There is a need to build a knowledge-based economy and we would invest in setting up of a new professional college in the state.”

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