Governor NN Vohra administering oath to office to Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi at SKICC Srinagar
on Saturday. At 32, Ruhullah is the youngets cabinet minister who took oath to office.
Syed Yasir
SRINAGAR, July, 11: After a long wait, Omar Abdullah led council of ministry was expanded finally today with the induction of eight new cabinet ministers and five ministers of the state. This brings the total number of minister in Omar's cabinet to 23.
From National Conference (NC) side, MLA Kargil, Qamar Ali Akhoon, MLA Noorabad, Sakeena Itoo, MLA Gool Gulab Garh Abdul Gani Malik, and Agha Syed Ruhulla Mehdi, MLA Budgam got the cabinet berth, while MLA Rafiabad, Javid Ahmad Dar, MLA Amira Kadal, Nasir Aslam Wani were made ministers of state.
From Congress side, MLA Gandhi Nagar, Raman Bhalla, MLA Inderwal, Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, MLC, R.S. Chib were inducted into the cabinet, where as MLA Rajouri, Shabir Ahmad Khan, MLA Gool Arnas, Ajaz Ahmad Khan, MLA Billawar Dr Manohar Lal Sharma were made the minister of the state..
MLA Gulmarg Ghulam Hassan Mir, of people's Democratic Party Nationalist (DPN), an ally of Congress, got berth in the cabinet on Congress quota. Eight legislators were inducted in the cabinet and five ministers as minister of state (MoS). Ajaz Ahmad Khan and Dr Manohar Lal Sharma were given independent charge.
The induction of RS Chib was a big surprise even for senior leaders of the coalition and the non-induction of Dr Mustafa Kamal and Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan equally a big surprise.
While the portfolios to the new ministers would be formally allotted by the chief minister tomorrow, but Congress on its own announced the portfolios of its ministers.
Raman Bhalla was allotted revenue and relief, R.S. Chib, technical education, youth service and sports, additional charge of medical education, Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, R&B and mechanical engineering and Ghulam Hassan Mir agriculture.
Governor N N Vohra administers the oath of office and secrecy to the 13 new ministers at SKICC here this afternoon. There is only one woman face in the cabinet.
Some senior leaders in the two parties, Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan, Dr Mustafa Kamal brother of NC president Dr Farooq Abdullah and senior Congress leader Chowdhary Mohammad Aslam were not inducted in the cabinet. Even Hakim Mohammad Yasin of PDF could not also make it into the ministry this time.
Dr Kamal and Choudhary Aslam were not present at the ceremony. Sources in the coalition government said that all the three leaders were dropped from the list at the very last moment.
The cabinet expansion was delayed several times after serious differences emerged within the coalition government. The induction of Ghulam Hassan Mir and Hakim Mohammad Yasin in the cabinet became a big issue among coalition partners. The NC was stressing that both the leaders should be included in the cabinet on Congress quota. The Congress MLA on the other hand was arguing that both are the allies of coalition government and proper share should be given to them in the cabinet. However, the expansion came after an agreement reached between the two parties after Congress high command intervened and finally Mir was included in the cabinet.
Apart from these two MLAs, the leaders of both the parties were stressing to their party high commands that they should be included in the cabinet, which also forced the coalition to delay the expansion.
The biggest problem for the Omar Abdullah was that he is bound not to expand the cabinet beyond 25 ministers. The earlier strength of the cabinet was 10 ministers including chief minister, with today's expansion, the total strength has gone upto 23. Chief minister can add to more ministers in next cabinet expansion.
The oath taking function was attended by former chief minister and union new energy minister Dr Farooq Abdullah, leader of opposition in legislative assembly and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, senior Congress leader, Pritvi Raj Chouhan, PCC chief Prof Safi-u-Din Soz and senior police and civil officials.
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KT NEWS SERVICE
SRINAGAR, July 11: The expanded council of ministers promised to be a judicious blend of youth and experience, but to everyone's surprise young and new faces have been given bigger share in the cabinet. Out of 13 ministers sworn in today, six are first timers.
MLA Gool Abdul Gani Malik, MLA Rafiabad Javid Ahmad Dar, MLA Budgam Aga Syed Ruhulla, MLA Billawar Dr. Manohar Lal Sharma, MLA Rajouri Shabir Ahmad Khan, and MLA Amirakadal Nasir Aslam Wani, took oath as ministers for the first time.
Interestingly, former ministers Qamar Ali Akhoon, Ghulam Hassan Mir, Sakina Itoo, GM Saroori, Ajaz Ahmad Khan, RS Chib, MLA Gandhi Nagar Raman Bhalla took oath as ministers for the second time.
MLA Budgam Aga Syed Ruhullah, 32, who was sworn in as cabinet minister, is the youngest of the lot, followed by Javeed Dar, 34, and Sakeena Itoo, 38.
Except Hassan Mir, Saroori, Chib, Malik, and Akhoon, all other newly sworn-in ministers are below 50 years of age.
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