New inductees in J&K cabinet kick up storm
PDP, BJP described rejig as a ‘midterm course correction’ as eight ministers take oath of office; Nirmal Singh is the new speaker of state assembly
JAMMU: The much-awaited cabinet reshuffle in the Mehbooba Mufti government in Jammu and Kashmir took place on Monday with speaker Kavinder Gupta taking over as the new deputy chief minister of the PDP-BJP combine.
The shake-up of the council of ministers , with the induction of six new ministers from the BJP and two from the PDP, comes after BJP ministers Lal Singh and Chander Prakash Ganga resigned from the cabinet earlier this month after they were criticised for taking part in a rally in support of those accused of the rape and murder of an eight-yearold girl in Kathua.
Both parties sought to downplay the link between the reshuffle and Kathua, although the appointment of Kathua MLA Rajiv Jasrotia, who was part of the rally for which Singh and Ganga had to resign, as cabinet minister came in for criticism.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah was quick off the mark on Twitter. “2 BJP ministers removed in J&K for attending a pro-rapist rally & an MLA who is reported to have attended the same rally is promoted as a minister. Why are the BJP/ @Mehboobamufti confused about where they stand on the
It but is we a small have incident to ensure that such incident does not happen again... shouldn’t be raked up again & again KAVINDER GUPTA , new J&K dy CM, on the Kathua gangrape and murder
#Kathua rape?” he tweeted.
Governor NN Vohra administered the oath of office to the eight ministers in the presence of CM Mehbooba Mufti, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, BJP J&K in-charge Avinash Rai Khanna and outgoing deputy CM Nirmal Singh, who is the new speaker. Gupta was the first to take oath followed by PDP’S Mohammed Khalil Bandh, BJP state president Sat Sharma, PDP’S Mohammed Ashraf Mir, and the BJP’S MOS Sunil Kumar Sharma, Jasrotia, Devinder Kumar Manyal and Shakti Raj.
Both the PDP and BJP described the reshuffle as a midterm course correction. The coalition completed three years in office in March. The J&K assembly has a term of six years.
Hours after the ceremony, Gupta kicked up a storm by terming the Kathua rape and murder a “minor incident”. “It is a small incident but we have to ensure that it does not happen again. We want that justice for the child but the incident shouldn’t be raked up again and again. The state has many such challenges,” he added.
JAMMU: Outgoing deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh on Monday said the cabinet reshuffle in Jammu and Kashmir should not be attached to Kathua rape and murder case.
Singh swapped positions with Kavinder Gupta who took over as the deputy chief minister, while Singh dons the role of the new state assembly Speaker.
Singh had tendered his resignation on Sunday from the post of J&K deputy CM.
BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav said, “The cabinet reshuffle was a bit bigger than our expectation. Initially, we had to confine the reshuffle to two to three ministers but since two of our ministers (Lal Singh and Chander Parkash Ganga) had to resign (for their presence in Hindu Ekta Manch rally), we had to go for induction of five ministers,” he said.
While talking to media here, Singh said, “We weathered many big crisis and controversies in the past three years in the form of Burhan Wani’s killing, beef row and Sainik Colony row. Kathua incident should not be linked to today’s cabinet reshuffle,” he asserted.
He, however, regretted that a heinous incident happened in January in Rasana village and two ministers of the BJP had to resign on moral grounds.
When asked about the demand of CBI probe by the people, he said that the case was in the court and it will look into the fairness of investigations. He recalled how a small child was used by people with vested interests and how the ‘JNU gang’ came to Jammu to add fuel to fire under a sinister design at the behest of Pakistan. He also castigated Congress for the flaring up the situation.
Singh attributed the reshuffle to mid-term exercise and
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Two BJP ministers removed for attending a prorapist rally and an MLA who is reported to have attended the same rally is promoted as a minister. Why is state govt confused about where they stand on the Kathua case? OMAR ABDULLAH, leader of opposition, J&K assembly
ensuring Lok Sabha polls next year. “It is a redeployment and an exercise to introduce new faces. It was party directive and we, as dedicated party members, have to abide by the party directions,” he added.
He also denied that the reshuffle had to do with the performance of party ministers.
“Some differences are always there in a coalition government but I don’t think that PDP ever tried to impose any hegemony over BJP,” he responded to another query. In this context, he recalled how the BJP opposed controversial minutes of meetings of tribal affairs department held on February 14.