The cabinet expansion in Jammu and Kashmir will take place on Tuesday, two years after the formation of Omar Abdullah government. Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday extended invitations for the oath-taking ceremony to the legislators. The ceremony will be organised in Srinagar Lok Bhawan auditorium in Srinagar at 10.30 am on October 27.
The invitation comes after Omar Abdullah on Saturday called on Sinha at Lok Bhavan in Srinagar to discuss governance issues and the expansion of the council of ministers. Omar had confirmed that he formally requested the LG to schedule a time during the first two days of next week for the cabinet expansion ceremony. Omar’s visit came shortly after Sinha returned to Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday following a temporary absence due to health reasons. Earlier, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah had indicated that any cabinet expansion would proceed once the lieutenant governor returned to Srinagar.
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After meeting Sinha, Omar had said that a list of new council of ministers have already been prepared and no changes will be made in the names. “The list is ready after consulting Farooq Abdullah. Now there is no need to bother me or Farooq Abdullah as the decision about who will become the minister has been made. I would like to request my colleagues to be patient. I am getting so many WhatsApp messages and long letters as if I do not know them (legislators). Please do not send me anything either on WhatsApp or call me. Please do not knock on my door. The reshuffle will take place in the next 2-3 days”, he added.
Several senior legislators are hopeful of securing cabinet berths. People familiar with the matter said that the CM was finding it very difficult to accommodate everyone as there are many aspirants for just three berths.
The UT government can increase the cabinet to 10% (nine cabinet berths) of the total number of the 90 seats. So far, the cabinet has comprised CM and his team of five ministers — three from Jammu and two from Kashmir. The team had taken oath on October 16, 2024.
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Earlier, people familiar with the development indicated that beyond filling vacancies, the administration may drop or shift up to two sitting members of the council of ministers to manage internal party dynamics and preserve regional representation between Jammu and Kashmir. Among prospective inductees, assembly speaker Abdul Rahim Rather, a seven-time legislator with a finance background, is tipped for a cabinet role. Constitutional procedure requires Rather to formally step down as speaker before being sworn into the executive council, with senior NC leader Mubarak Gul reported as a likely candidate to succeed him in the chair.
For several months, the NC offered a cabinet portfolio to its electoral ally, the Congress. However, the Congress declined executive posts, opting to extend support from the outside until full statehood is restored to Jammu and Kashmir.
A senior correspondent with Hindustan Times, Ashiq Hussain has reported from Kashmir since the year 2008. He has been writing extensively on politics, militancy, environment and developmental issues in J&K. He has reported for the paper during one of the transformative periods in J&K’s history. Besides HT, he has also reported and edited for local news dailies and weeklies in Kashmir. He has a master's degree in mass communication and journalism from Kashmir University.Picture link: https://x.com/aashiqbhatt/photo, X handle: @aashiqbhatt, mail:ashiq.hussain@htlive.comRead More