Considered an outsider initially for having being educated in Mumbai, 38-year-old Omar, holder of a Masters degree in business administration, not only learnt fluent Kashmiri quickly to make himself acceptable among the masses but led the party through a testing time when it was in opposition and reached out to the people of the state.
As he scaled the political ladder as a National Conference lawmaker at the age of 28 to head of the party when he was 31, Omar was level-headed in his approach to show maturity not usually seen in his age group and which belied his boyish looks.
The qualities of a mature politician in young Abdullah came to the fore in Lok Sabha in July this year during the confidence vote when in a fiery extempore speech lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party and supported the Indo-US nuclear deal leaving almost the entire House spell bound.
Image: Omar is congratulated by Jammu & Kashmir Governor NN Vohra after taking the oath as the new chief minister of the state.
Photograph: Amit Gupta/Reuters
Also see: Omar for continuation of peace process
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