All eyes now on J&K Cabinet probables

12 legislators each from BJP and PDP to take oath today.

February 28, 2015 10:38 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 02:00 am IST - JAMMU:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in New Delhi on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in New Delhi on Friday.

With the stage set for the swearing-in of the PDP-BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, the focus has now shifted to who all will make it to the Council of Ministers.

At the swearing-in ceremony, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 25 legislators — 12 each from the PDP and the BJP as well as Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed — would take oath. According to sources, 12 of them — six from each party — would be part of the Cabinet. While there were no signs of public celebration over the swearing-in either in Jammu or Kashmir, the BJP office in Jammu wore a festive look on Saturday.

Hundreds of party workers arrived all through the day and scores stood outside the airport beating the drums to welcome senior party leaders like Jitendra Singh, Avinash Rai Khanna and Nirmal Singh, who flew in from New Delhi. Mr. Nirmal Singh is tipped to be sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister. The ceremony will be held at the General Zorawar Singh Auditorium of Jammu University.

According to PDP sources, the 12 party legislators to be sworn into the Council of Ministers include Haseeb Drabu, Abdul Rehman Veeri, Altaf Bukhari, Imran Ansari, Asiya Naqash, Javed Mustafa Mir, Abdul Majeed Padder and Haq Khan.

Amid all the speculation over the candidates to be sworn-in and their portfolios, one centred around People’s Conference head and BJP ally Sajjad Lone. According to sources, while the BJP wanted a Cabinet berth for Mr. Lone, the PDP is opposed to the idea. Incidentally, Mr. Lone was still in Srinagar on Saturday and had not come to Jammu where the swearing-in will take place.

After more than 15 rounds of talks headed by Mr. Drabu for the PDP and Mr. Ram Madhav for the BJP, the two parties have come together on an “agenda for alliance” which will be released after the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday.

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