Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is set to expand and reshuffle his Council of Ministers on Tuesday, but the Congress has decided to stay out of the government, reiterating that it will not accept a ministerial berth until the Union Territory's statehood is restored. Jammu and Kashmir has been a Union Territory since the scrapping of Article 370 in 2019.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers at 10:30 am at the Lok Bhawan auditorium in Srinagar. The reshuffle is expected to see new faces inducted into the Cabinet, with one or two existing ministers possibly being dropped, according to sources.
Abdullah met Sinha on Saturday (October 24) and sought time for the expansion and reshuffle. National Conference spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said the party leadership, including Abdullah and NC president Farooq Abdullah, would decide on the names of the new ministers.
The Congress, which contested the 2024 Assembly polls in alliance with the National Conference, has maintained that it will continue to support the government from outside. The party has six MLAs in the 90-member Assembly but is not part of the Council of Ministers.
Jammu and Kashmir Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra reiterated that the party would not join the Cabinet until statehood was restored. “It has been our stand that we won't join the cabinet till statehood is restored. We have been fighting for the restoration of statehood for the past two years,” he said.
Karra added that the Congress would not compromise its statehood movement for the sake of a ministerial berth. “I don't think, for the sake of a cabinet berth, we would harm our movement for statehood. However, our central high command will take a final decision on this,” he said.
Jammu and Kashmir Congress working president Raman Bhalla recently reiterated that the party would not join the Cabinet until full statehood was restored. He also stressed the need for safeguards to protect the land rights, employment opportunities and resources of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Congress leaders have also indicated that the party was not consulted about the upcoming reshuffle. AICC general secretary Syed Naseer Hussain said there had been no discussion on the party joining the government.
OMAR ABDULLAH REBUKES MLAS OVER MINISTERIAL BERTHS
The reshuffle comes amid pressure on Omar Abdullah to accommodate more legislators and maintain regional balance in the Cabinet. Under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, the Council of Ministers can have a maximum of nine members, including the Chief Minister. The Cabinet currently has six members, leaving room for three more inductions.
Abdullah has publicly cautioned party MLAs against lobbying for ministerial berths, as several legislators are understood to have been pressing their claims through WhatsApp messages. The Chief Minister faces the challenge of balancing regional representation and managing aspirations within the National Conference.
The BJP, meanwhile, has claimed that the reshuffle could trigger discontent within the ruling party and lead to internal divisions in the National Conference.
BJP spokesperson and MLA Ranbir Singh Pathania congratulated the incoming ministers but took a swipe at Abdullah. He accused the Chief Minister of publicly shaming his MLAs by asking them not to send him WhatsApp messages.
Pathania also referred to an earlier meeting of National Conference MLAs at Dachigam, claiming that party legislators had accused their own ministers of corruption. He questioned when the government would act on the allegations and fulfil its poll promises.
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