New inductees in J&K Cabinet kick up storm

It is a small incident but we have 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

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 PDPBJP 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 eightyear-old 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 #Kathua rape?” he tweeted.

Governor NN Vohra administered the oath of office to the eight ministers in the presence of chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, BJP national 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 presi- dent 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 constituent assembly has a term of six years unlike five years in other states. Two militants gunned down in Pulwama, man dies in clashes; 3 civilians killed in Baramullah