Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today hinted at a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle and expansion shortly after the GST Council meeting and subsequent consultations with National Conference president Farooq Abdullah.
Speaking to reporters in Srinagar, Omar said he had intended to complete the cabinet exercise during the current period, but the recently concluded Autumn Session of the J&K Legislative Assembly had delayed the process.
"I had said that the session has just been completed. I would have done it in these days," the Chief Minister said.
Omar, however, said his scheduled visit to New Delhi for the GST Council meeting would take precedence. He added that the cabinet reshuffle would be discussed with Farooq Abdullah after his engagement in Delhi.
"But tomorrow there is a GST Council meeting in Delhi. We will complete it, and then we will consult with Mr Farooq," Omar said.
Notably, there are currently three vacancies in the Council of Ministers.
Under the constitutional provisions, the Central Government and State Governments can have ministers up to 15 per cent of the total strength of the Lok Sabha and the respective legislative assemblies. For the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, however, the limit has been fixed at 10 per cent of the total strength of the Legislative Assembly.
Accordingly, the Omar Abdullah-led government can have a maximum of nine ministers, including the Chief Minister, as Jammu and Kashmir has a 90-member Assembly. At present, besides the Chief Minister, there are five Ministers in the Council, leaving three vacancies, unless some of the incumbent Ministers are dropped.
The Chief Minister, along with Health and Medical Education and Social Welfare Minister Sakeena Itoo and Agriculture, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Javid Dar, hails from the Kashmir division. Three other ministers—Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control and Forest Minister Javed Rana, and Transport and Sports Minister Satish Sharma—are from the Jammu division.
Satish Sharma is an Independent MLA from Chhamb, while the other five ministers belong to the National Conference.
Although the NC and Congress contested the Assembly elections together as pre-poll alliance partners, the Congress currently has no representation in the Council of Ministers. In the 90-member House, the NC has 41 MLAs, and the Congress has six. Lone CPM MLA M.Y. Tarigami and five independent MLAs support the NC in the Assembly, where the majority mark is 46.
"Besides expansion, a reshuffle of portfolios in the Council of Ministers headed by Omar Abdullah is also expected," sources said.
The five ministers are currently holding charge of three to four departments each. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah himself holds charge of several departments, including Finance, Revenue, Housing and Urban Development, Tourism and General Administration.
"If none of the current ministers are dropped, Omar can induct a maximum of three ministers, taking the strength of the Council to nine," the sources said, adding that it remains to be seen whether the Congress is given a berth in the ministry.
Of the NC's 41 MLAs, only seven are from the Jammu division, including two each from Ramban, Poonch and Rajouri districts and one from Reasi district. The remaining 34 MLAs of the party are from the Kashmir division.
Of the six Congress MLAs, five are from Kashmir and one from Jammu. However, four Independent MLAs from the Jammu division—Pyare Lal Sharma (Inderwal), Rameshwar Singh (Bani), Choudhary Akram (Surankote) and Muzaffar Khan (Thannamandi)—are also supporting the National Conference.
