Ending the three-day-long tussle between the alliance partners, J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohd Sayeed on Tuesday evening allocated portfolios to his Council of Ministers keeping the charge of Home and Tourism Department with himself.
On the other hand BJP’s Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh was handed over the charge of Power Housing and Urban Development Department in the 25-member Council of Ministers.
Haseeb Drabu, an economist and former Chairman of J&K Bank, has been given the charge of Finance Department while Sajjad lone has been given the charge of Animal Husbandry and Science and Technology Department. Syed Basharat Bukhari, a former broadcaster on Radio Kashmir, has been made new law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister from PDP quota.
BJP’s fire brand leaders lal Singh has been handed over the charge of Health and Medical Education Department.
Sukhnanda Kumar Choudhary has been handed over Public Health Engineering Department.
Bali Bhagat, senior BJP legislator has been made Social Welfare, Forest and Environment Minister while first time MlA Chander Prakash has been named new Industries and Commerce Minister.
PDP’s Javaid Mustafa Mir has been made Revenue Minister while senior party leader Abdul Rahman Veeri has been given the charge of Horticulture, Haj and Auqaf. Naeem Akhtar, chief spokesman of PDP has been entrusted with the responsibility of Education Department.
After PDP walked away with the lions’ share in the Cabinet, BJP Ministers had declined to accept the portfolios offered to them by the Chief Minister after the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday.
In a 25-member Council of Ministers PDP had garnered ten Cabinet berths and three Ministers of State while BJP had to settle for fiveCabinet berths only and five Ministers of State (MoS).
According to official sources, the allocation of portfolios was held up late on Sunday evening to avoid further embarrassment to the State Government.
On Monday when no headway could be achieved, Mufti Sayeed indulged in dinner diplomacy and tried to persuade his alliance partners to fall in line as the long delay was attributed to ongoing tussle between the alliance partners.
Fearing public outcry over uneven distribution of portfolios BJP Ministers remained firm on their demand for fair distribution of portfolios keeping in view the aspirations of people of Jammu province. The BJP Ministers were in no mood to get the raw deal at the behest of their counterparts from the Kashmir valley.
Unhappy with the approach of the PDP Ministers, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh on Tuesday rushed to New Delhi to consult party high command. Following close door parleys and back channel talks between the leaders of both the parties the issue of allocation of portfolios was finally resolved and a formal order was issued by the Chief Secretary Mohd Iqbal Khanday.
Controversial statements made by Mufti Mohd Sayeed crediting Hurriyat militants and people from across the Border for peaceful Assembly polls in December 2014 had also created a wedge between the new alliance partners and resulted in the delay. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh both made categoric statements in the Parliament disassociating themselves from the comments made by J&K Chief Minister.