LG administers oath to 4 NC MLAs
CM chairs first Cabinet meet
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday administered the oath of office and secrecy to four new ministers in the Omar Abdullah-led Government, taking the Council of Ministers to its maximum permissible strength of nine, including the Chief Minister.
The expansion, however, triggered resentment among several senior National Conference (NC) leaders who were left out, prompting party president Farooq Abdullah to appoint Eidgah MLA Mubarak Gul as the party’s General Secretary hours after he publicly expressed displeasure over his exclusion.
The newly inducted ministers are senior NC leader Ali Mohammad Sagar, MLA from Khanyar; Shamim Firdous, MLA from Habba Kadal; Mir Saifullah, MLA from Trehgam in Kupwara; and Altaf Ahmad Wani, popularly known as Altaf Kaloo, MLA from Pahalgam in Anantnag district. All four belong to the ruling party and represent constituencies in the Kashmir Valley.
The swearing-in ceremony was held at Lok Bhavan in Srinagar in the presence of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, NC president and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary and other dignitaries.
Following the induction, Omar Abdullah chaired the first meeting of the expanded Council of Ministers. The Chief Minister’s Office said in a post on X that several proposals aimed at ensuring balanced and equitable development across Jammu and Kashmir were taken up for consideration.
The cabinet expansion, however, left several party legislators dissatisfied over their exclusion. Gul, who attended the swearing-in ceremony, publicly voiced his disappointment immediately after the event.
“I have attended 20 swearing-in ceremonies so far, and I am a senior leader of the party. Shockingly, I have been left out,” Gul told reporters before heading to the NC headquarters at the Nawa-e-Subha complex, where his supporters had gathered and raised slogans in his favour.
In an apparent attempt to address the growing discontent, Farooq Abdullah, accompanied by newly inducted minister Ali Mohammad Sagar and other senior leaders, reached the party headquarters and announced Gul’s appointment as NC General Secretary, garlanding him on the occasion.
The appointment, however, did not appear to have fully assuaged Gul’s disappointment. He subsequently told reporters that he would announce his future course of action at a press conference scheduled for November 4.
Another senior party legislator, Abdul Majeed Larmi, MLA from Anantnag West, also expressed anguish over his exclusion. The three-time legislator said he had been asked to wait until 11 pm on Monday for a possible call regarding his induction but did not receive one.
“I am a dedicated and honest party loyalist, and I am shocked at my non-inclusion,” Larmi told reporters. He, however, said he would continue to work for the party and had no plans to quit.
Gurez MLA Nazir Ahmad Gurezi and Kangan MLA Mian Mehr Ali also skipped the swearing-in ceremony in protest over their exclusion, according to party-related developments reported on Tuesday.
Mehr Ali, a first-time legislator from Ganderbal district and son of senior NC leader and Anantnag-Rajouri MP Mian Altaf Ahmad, had been widely expected to secure a cabinet berth, particularly in view of the representation of the Gujjar and Bakarwal communities.
With the induction of the four ministers, the Council of Ministers now comprises nine members, including Omar Abdullah, in accordance with the maximum permissible strength applicable to the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly under the post-reorganisation framework.
The ceremony was attended by Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather, MP Gurvinder Singh Oberoi, Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani, legislators, civil and police officers and other dignitaries. The proceedings were conducted by Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor Govind Jaiswal.
