Aware of Farooq family shadow, Mehbooba may stay out of govt

Besides the imperative of building the party, Mufti wants a visible break from the past. His predecessor Farooq Abdullah had included his relatives in his Government, and the vote against the National Conference was as much against the autocratic rule of the family as anything else.

In the powersharing arrangement worked out between the PDP and the Congress, the Deputy Chief Ministership will go to the Congress and Mangat Ram Sharma, a senior Congress leader from Jammu, is a frontrunner for the post.

The job of the Speaker will also go to the Congress. The chairman of the Coordination Committee is also to be be headed by Congress leader.

As far as portfolios are concerned, officially the Congress is saying that ‘‘it is the prerogative of the CM.’’ But there’s a tussle on between the Congress and the PDP. Having conceded the chief ministership to Mufti, the Congress wants now to corner the plum portfolios.

The public expression of unhappiness by the Congress MLAs at Mufti’s elevation is being seen as pressure tactics by the Congress to get the good ministries.

While the CM designate may be prepared to give the Home portfolio to the Congress, he would like to retain Finance for his No 2, Muzaffar Baig, say sources.

Ghulam Nabi Azad is expected to head the Coordination Committee. This was a post offered at one stage to Mufti.

Congress sources say that Azad will be renominated to the Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir. His term comes to an end in the middle of November.

The new Chief Minister, who is tipped to be sworn in on Saturday, is also looking around for a suitable Chief Secretary. The two people under consideration are Wajahat Habibullah, a highly regarded Kashmir hand and currently heading the IAS Academy in Mussoorie, and Shafi Pandit, a local IAS officer known for his dynamism and integrity.