J&K deputy CM quits cabinet ahead of rejig

SRINAGAR: Jammu & Kashmir deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh quit the Mehbooba ministry late Sunday evening on the instructions of the BJP high command.

The PDP-BJP coalition government in J&K is scheduled to undergo a major reshuffle of the state cabinet. New faces are likely to be inducted, particularly from BJP, following the ouster of two BJP ministers — forest minister Lal Singh and commerce and industries minister Chandra Prakash Ganga — after the controversy over the rape and murder of an eight-year-old Bakarwal girl over three months ago.

"Yes, I have filed my papers to enable the new BJP leader to take over as deputy CM. Speaker Kavinder Gupta is likely to be the new deputy CM of J&K ," outgoing deputy CM Nirmal Singh told TOI.

Singh may become the new Speaker of the state legislative assembly, official sources said.

The state government has scheduled an oath-taking ceremony at noon on Monday at the Jammu Convention Centre, according to official reports. Invitation cards to participate in the swearing-in ceremony have been dispatched to senior officials and the media.

Confirming the development, BJP vice-president Avinash Rai Khanna said the names of the ministers to be inducted into the Cabinet have been finalised, but he refused to divulge their names.

Sources, however, said junior minister Sunil Sharma was likely to be elevated to Cabinet rank.

Others likely to be inducted include Sukhnandan Chaudhary, Shakti Parihar, Devinder Kumar Manyal, Rajeev Sharma, Ravinder Raina and Rajeev Jasrotia.

All BJP ministers in the government resigned last week to pave way for a reshuffle of party ministers in the Mehbooba Mufti-led government.

Sources said a reshuffle of BJP members of the Cabinet became necessary when PDP inducted CM Mehbooba Mufti's brother, Tassaduq Hussain Mufti, and Javaid Mustafa Mir as Cabinet ministers, raising the strength of the party to 12 (including the CM) in the state Cabinet.

The CM later allotted the tourism portfolio to her brother, Tassaduq Mufti, while Mir was assigned the disaster management, relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction and floriculture departments.