Mehbooba calls up Farooq, Omar to invite them for swearing-in

Father and son accept invitation, will attend ceremony

Chief Minister-designate of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti chose to follow her predecessor and bete noire Omar Abdullah as she personally called him up and his father Farooq Abdullah to invite them for her oath-taking ceremony tomorrow.

Mehbooba, 56, who will take office as the first woman chief minister of the state tomorrow, telephoned senior Abdullah first requesting him to attend the swearing-in ceremony, which is being held in Jammu.

"Yes, I received a call and I will be going," Abdullah, who could not attend the oath-taking function of her father Mufti Mohammed Sayeed last year as he was undergoing treatment abroad, said.

This call was followed by a telephonic conversation with her predecessor and arch political rival Omar, whom she also requested to attend the function. He too accepted the invitation.

"Very gracious of Mehbooba Mufti Sahiba to phone & invite me to her oath taking ceremony. I look forward to being there on the 4th," Omar tweeted.

Omar had driven to the residence of the Sayeeds in January 2009 to personally extend an invitation to them for attending his swearing-in ceremony in Jammu.