- PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti takes oath as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Mehbooba is the first woman Chief Minister of the state.
- BJP leader Nirmal Singh returns as Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Along with Mehbooba Mufti, 21 others were sworn in by Governor NN Vohra.
- Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee among the first leaders to congratulate Mehbooba Mufti.
Mehbooba’s Cabinet: The PDP-BJP Balance
Governor NN Vohra administered the oath to 21 other ministers.
BJP’s share increased this time in the cabinet from six to eight berths and three Ministers of State (MoS).
The PDP has dropped to nine from 11 cabinet ministers. Mehbooba Mufti’s party got three MoS berths, same as the last time.
Under Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, the BJP had 11 ministers – six in cabinet, three MoS and two with independent charge.
BJP’s New Faces: The BJP has Prakash Kumar and Shyam Lal Chowdhury among the new faces in the cabinet.
BJP promoted Chering Dorje and Abdul Gani Kohli as Cabinet ministers. They were Ministers of State with independent charge in the Sayeed-led government.
Sajjad Gani Lone, son of late separatist leader Abdul Gani Lone, remained in the cabinet in the BJP quota.
Law Minister in the Sayeed’s ministry, Basharat Bukhari of PDP, took oath in Kashmiri again this year.
Dropped
PDP has dropped Altaf Bukhari and Javed Mustafa from the ministry.
BJP leader Sukhnandan was dropped from the list of Ministers besides Minister of State Pawan Gupta, an independent MLA from Udhampur, who has been replaced by Ajay Nanda.
VIP Attendance
Former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar, Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu and Jitendra Singh were among the host of VIPs present at the function held at Raj Bhavan.
However, PDP MP Tariq Hamid Karra and Congress boycotted the ceremony.
Meanwhile, National Conference leader and former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted,
Also read: Did Modi Go Against BJP’s Big Guns to Pitch for Mehbooba Mufti?
According to those familiar with the developments, several factors, both internal and external, weighed in, to prod Modi to intervene personally and make one last attempt to break the deadlock himself instead of leaving it to his party.
After Mehbooba Mufti takes oath as chief minister, her cabinet is also sworn in.
BJP’s Nirmal Singh takes oath as Deputy Chief Minister.
Along with Mehbooba Mufti, 21 others have been sworn in as ministers. PDP leader Ghulam Nabi, BJP MLA Bali Bhagat are some of the leaders sworn in by Governor NN Vohra.
People’s Conference leader Sajjad Lone has also taken the oath.