After months of delays, the Omar Abdullah-led government will be having its first cabinet expansion as chief minister Omar Abdullah today called on lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha at Lok Bhavan in Srinagar to discuss governance issues and the expansion of the council of ministers.
Abdullah reached Lok Bhavan around 11am for the meeting. The visit comes 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.
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. Sources indicate 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. 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. The NC government currently has five ministers, including deputy chief minister Surinder Chowdhary. The fresh expansion could take the strength of the cabinet to eight. Currently, three ministers are from Jammu and two from Kashmir. Several senior legislators are hopeful of securing cabinet berths. BJP, which is the main opposition in J&K, had mocked the CM, saying that he fears that many legislators could break from the party if they aren’t given. “I can’t believe that these MLAs are comfortable with such belittling and humiliating remarks.
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. If you are unable to accommodate them in the cabinet, you can spare them from public humiliation,” he said.
I sought time from LG for the expansion, and requested him to fix it 2-3 days next week”, he said. Speaking to reporters, Omar Abdullah confirmed that he has formally requested the LG to schedule a time during the first two days of next week for the cabinet expansion ceremony. You want to know whether cabinet reshuffle was discussed with LG or not.
“It’s been a long time since I met him, so today LG gave me time to meet him.
