Omar Abdullah
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Omar Abdullah (born 10 March 1970) is an Indian politician serving as the chief minister of union territory of Jammu and Kashmir since 2024 and also as the leader of the house in J&K Legislative Assembly. He had previously served as the 8th chief minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir between 2009 and 2014, and is the current vice president of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, a position he has held since 2009 and also previously served as its president. Abdullah also served as a member of parliament in the Lok Sabha from 1998 to 2009, representing the Srinagar parliamentary constituency, and was a union minister of State for External Affairs. The son of former Jammu and Kashmir State chief minister Farooq Abdullah, he joined politics in 1998 after being elected as the youngest member of the Lok Sabha, a feat he repeated in subsequent three elections. He was the union Minister of State for External Affairs in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's NDA government, from 23 July 2001 to 23 December 2002. He resigned from NDA government in October 2002 to concentrate on party work. During this time, he took a larger role in state politics. However, his party faced defeat in the 2002 state elections. However, him and his party were later elected in the 2008 state elections. He became the youngest, and 11th chief minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir after forming a government in coalition with the Indian National Congress, on 5 January 2009. He would serve in that position until 2015, after being defeated in the 2014 state elections. He was the last leader of opposition in the erstwhile state Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, serving as an MLA from Beerwah constituency, before the assembly was dissolved in 2018 and the state of Jammu & Kashmir ceased to exist as on 6 August 2019 and became a union territory following the revocation of Article 370, which Abdullah fiercely opposed. Following being arrested and detained in 2020, Abdullah returned to politics first in the 2024 Indian general election, where he was defeated for a seat. Despite initially refusing to run for a seat, Abdullah was elected as an MLA following the 2024 union territory elections, being elected the first chief minister of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. He took office in October 2024.