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Top leaders of the INDIA front, including Rahul Gandhi of the Congress and Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, are expected to be present as National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah takes oath as the Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Wednesday.
On the eve of the swearing-in, the guessing game over who would be a part of Omar’s Cabinet continued. Under the J&K Reorganization Act, the state government can have only nine ministers, including the CM. Omar must ensure representation to both Jammu and Kashmir provinces, and several different ethnicities, given the complexities of the UT, within that limited number.
Acknowledging the problem, an NC leader said: “It is a tough job for Omar sahib to decide whom to take into the Cabinet and whom to leave out… But he has not discussed it with anyone yet.”
Another NC leader called it an ‘eik anaar aur sou beemar (Too many claimants for a share of the pie)’ situation for Omar.
Sources said alliance partner Congress, which won only six seats in the Assembly polls, is likely to get one berth in the Cabinet. The party has reportedly not yet settled on a name, though the most likely contender is believed to be former J&K party chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir.
On what all must be factored in for Cabinet formation, another NC leader said: “Within Jammu, you have three distinct regions – mainland Jammu, Pir Panjal and the Chenab region. Then in the Valley, you have South, North and Central Kashmir… There are also the different ethnicities like the Gujjars, Paharis and Pandits.”
The biggest difficulty is giving representation to mainland Jammu, comprising the Hindu-dominated Udhampur, Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts, since no member of the NC-Congress alliance won here. The top claimant for the post from the region is Satish Sharma, an Independent candidate who has extended support to the government.
From the Pir Panjal region, Javed Rana and Surinder Choudhary are likely to be inducted in the Cabinet. Rana is credited with turning around the NC in Pir Panjal, with the party bagging six of the eight Assembly seats here, with only one going to the Congress.
Additionally, Choudhary won from Nowshera defeating BJP state chief Ravinder Raina.
From the Valley, former minister Abdul Rahim Rather and Ali Mohammad Sagar are likely to make it to the Cabinet. While the senior Sagar wanted his son Salman Sagar, also an MLA-elect, to be inducted, sources said this was unlikely as it could invite claims from other legislators.
Omar is scheduled to take oath Wednesday forenoon at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) on the banks of the Dal Lake. NC president Farooq Abdullah said that they had invited top leaders from the INDIA bloc, including Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Rahul and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge have confirmed their attendance, while Akhilesh has already arrived in Srinagar. The other leaders likely to attend are the DMK’s Kanimozhi, the NCP’s Supriya Sule, the CPI(M)’s Prakash Karat, and the CPI’s D Raja.
Harsimrat Kaur of the Shiromani Akali Dal, which is not a part of the INDIA bloc, is also expected to be present.
J&K has been without an elected government since 2018, when the then PDP-BJP ruling coalition fell apart.
