Omar Abdullah expands J&K cabinet with four Kashmiri leaders, sparks row

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah on Tuesday expanded his council of ministers with the induction of four new faces from the Kashmir valley, triggering internal party discontent and protests, even as the Opposition BJP criticised the ruling alliance over what it termed a “regional and cultural imbalance”.

The four National Conference (NC) leaders — veteran politician Ali Mohammad Sagar from Srinagar, Mir Saifullah from Kupwara, Shameema Firdous from Srinagar, and Altaf Ahmad Wani (Kaloo) from Anantnag — were administered the oath of office by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at Lok Bhavan here. Independent MLA Satish Sharma, who represents Chhamb in the Jammu division, was dropped from the cabinet.

With all four inductees hailing from Kashmir, seven ministers in the nine-member council now represent the valley, while deputy CM Surinder Chaudhary and Javaid Rana remain the only two representatives from the Jammu region.


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Soon after the swearing-in ceremony, Abdullah chaired a meeting of the newly constituted Council of Ministers at the secretariat.

The maximum permissible strength of the Jammu and Kashmir council of ministers is nine, in accordance with the statutory limit of 10% of the 90-member assembly in the Union Territory.

NC president Farooq Abdullah said, “A very good cabinet change has taken place. They (ministers) will work and try to ease the difficulties and problems of the people.”

Senior NC leaders, including Mubarak Gul from Srinagar, Abdul Majid Larmi from Anantnag and Nazir Gurezi, expressed disappointment over their exclusion from the council. Gul’s supporters staged a protest in front of the CM at the party headquarters in Srinagar, saying that Gul would resign if he was not accommodated in the council. Gul, whom the NC appointed as its general secretary on Tuesday, has sought a few days from his supporters and is likely to make his next move in the first week of November.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the J&K Assembly and senior BJP leader Sunil Sharma said this was the first time that the council had witnessed a regional and cultural imbalance. “Governments have to take every community along. They have to take every region, every area along. You have to maintain a religious, regional and cultural balance. Today, that was nowhere to be seen,” Sharma told reporters.