*Governor rule ends, elected Govt revived after about 3 months
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 4: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti was today sworn-in as the Chief Minister heading 23 members Council of Ministry of PDP-BJP coalition Government in Jammu and Kashmir bringing curtains on Governor’s rule in the State, which lasted 4 days less than three months. Contrary to her father late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who had filled all 25 vacancies in one go while taking over the reign of affairs on March 1, 2015, Mehbooba left two vacancies in the Ministry.
Governor N N Vohra administered oath of office and secrecy to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and 22 Ministers including 16 in the Cabinet rank and six as Ministers of State in sprawling lawns of Raj Bhavan at 11 am today in the presence of Union Minister for Housing and Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kour Badal, Minister of State in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav and National Conference leaders, Dr Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah among others. Congress had already announced boycott of the swearing-in ceremony citing ‘unholy alliance’ between the two parties and in protest against Central Government “destabilizing” State Governments ruled by Congress.
With today’s swearing-in ceremony that lasted nearly 40 minutes, PDP and BJP have equal strength of Ministers in both tiers of Ministry i.e. Cabinet and Ministers of State.
In the previous PDP-BJP Government headed by Mufti Sayeed, who had passed away on January 7 leading to imposition of Governor’s rule in the State from next day, PDP was the major partner with 15 Ministers including the Chief Minister while BJP had only 11 Ministers.
Now, the PDP and BJP have 11 Ministers each apart from the Chief Minister, who is the PDP president. Both the parties have eight Cabinet berths each, totaling 16 Cabinet Ministers and three Ministers of State each, totaling six. Mehbooba has left the scope of inducting two more Ministers anytime as the J&K Constitution permits maximum strength of 25 Ministers including the Chief Minister.
Soon after the swearing-in ceremony, the Governor revoked the proclamation, which had issued on January 9, imposing Governor’s rule in the State. With the proclamation, the Governor’s rule that last three days less than three months, came to an end. The Governor’s rule was imposed in the State with effect from January 8 as Mehbooba Mufti had refused to take oath immediately after the death of her father.
The Alliance partners have dropped a total of six Ministers from previous PDP-BJP coalition Government, headed by Mufti Sayeed, but in their places inducted only four new faces, leaving two vacancies.
The PDP dropped four Ministers and BJP two. While BJP replaced two dropped Ministers with two new faces, PDP inducted two Ministers in place of four.
The PDP Ministers, who were dropped from the Council today, were Syed Altaf Ahmad Bukhari (Works) and Javaid Mustafa Mir (Revenue), both in the Cabinet rank, Mohammad Ashraf Mir (Industries and Commerce, Power, Housing and Urban Development Department) and Mushtaq Ahmad Paddar (PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control and Forests), both Ministers of State.
While the PDP didn’t induct any new face in the Cabinet in place of Bukhari, who represents Amirakadal constituency of Srinagar and Javaid Mustafa Mir, a three-times MLA from Chadoora, it inducted Farooq Ahmad Andrabi (MLA Dooru, Anantnag, who had defeated PCC chief GA Mir) and Zahoor Ahmad Mir, a three times MLA from Pampore in place of Paddar and Ashraf Mir, who represent Noorabad and Sonawar seats respectively. Andrabi happens to be brother-in-law of Late Mufti Sayeed.
The BJP dropped Choudhary Sukhnandan, a two-times MLA from Marh, who was PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Minister in the Cabinet rank and Pawan Gupta, Independent MLA from Udhampur, who was Minister of State for Finance and IT from the BJP quota in the previous Government.
Sukhnandan was replaced by Sham Choudhary, another second time MLA from border constituency of Suchetgarh in the Cabinet rank while BJP’s first time MLA from Reasi Ajay Nanda replaced Pawan Gupta as Minister of State.
Rest of the Ministers remained unchanged.
Mehbooba Mufti, was the first to take oath in the presence of her mother Gulshan Ara and two daughters-Iritika and Sanna followed by BJP veteran Dr Nirmal Singh, who was clad in white coat pant.
Mehbooba, who will be first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and 13th Chief Minister of the State apart from being only second Muslim Chief Minister of any State in the country, took the oath in Urdu on the name of `Khuda’ while Dr Singh swore in the name of` Ishwar’ and took oath in Hindi. Syeda Anwara Taimur had so far been the lone woman Chief Minister of any State in the country. She had headed Assam Government as Congress leader from December 6, 1980 to June 30, 1981.
Mehbooba is presently fifth woman Chief Minister of the country, four others being Vasundra Raje (Rajasthan) and Anandiben (Gujarat), both from BJP, Jayalalitha (AIADMK, Tamil Nadu) and Mamata Banerjee (TMC, West Bengal).
Sixteen Cabinet Ministers, who took oath of office and secrecy from Governor today, were Dr Nirmal Singh, Chander Prakash Ganga, Bali Bhagat, Choudhary Lal Singh, Sajjad Ghani Lone, Chering Dorjey, Sham Lal Choudhary and Abdul Ghani Kohli, all from BJP, Abdul Rehman Veeri, Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura, Abdul Haq Khan, Syed Basharat Ahmad Bukhari, Dr Haseeb A Drabu, Choudhary Zulfikar Ali, Naeem Akhter and Imran Raza Ansari, all from PDP.
Though Sajjad Ghani Lone belongs to the People’s Conference, he got the Cabinet berth from the BJP quota as his party was pre-poll ally of the BJP.
Six Ministers, who were sworn-in as Ministers of State, included Asiya Naqash, Syed Farooq Ahmad Andrabi and Zahoor Ahmad Mir (all three from PDP), Sunil Sharma, Priya Sethi and Ajay Nanda (all from BJP).
Mehbooba Mufti will now have to become member of either House of Legislature (Assembly or Council) within the six months. While Anantnag Assembly seat is vacant after the death of her father Mufti Sayeed where election has to be held before July 7, there was no vacancy in the Legislative Council till March 2017. She will also have to give up her Lok Sabha membership from Anantnag seat, which she had won in May 2014.
Of 22 Ministers, 20 were members of the Assembly while only two-Naeem Akhter (PDP) and Chering Dorjey (BJP) were members of the Council.
Jammu region now has 10 Ministers- Seven in Cabinet rank and three Minisers of State while Kashmir has 12 Ministers including nine in Cabinet rank and three Ministers of State. The Kashmir Ministers included the Chief Minister. Ladakh has one Cabinet Minister.
PDP has one Minister from Jammu region (Zulfkar Choudhary). BJP too has only one Minister from its quota in Kashmir (Sajjad Ghani Lone).
BJP has lone Cabinet Minister from Ladakh (Chering Dorjey).
Both the PDP and BJP have repeated their women faces in the previous Ministry. They included Asiya Naqash, who was MoS for Health and Family Welfare and Priya Sethi, who was MoS for Education, Culture and Information in the previous Ministry.
With Mehbooba dropping Altaf Bukhari and Mohammad Ashraf Mir, MLAs from Amirakadal and Sonawar seats of Srinagar district, only Asiya Naqash was now left to represent Srinagar, the politically very significant district having eight constituencies.
Contrary to this, the BJP has retained three Ministries for Jammu district including Bali Bhagat and Sham Choudhary (who comes in place of Sukhnandan Choudhary), both Cabinet and Priya Sethi (Nominated MLA belonging to Jammu City).
Doda, Ramban, Udhampur and Poonch districts in Jammu region were still without any representation in the Cabinet while Jammu district has three Ministers, Rajouri two (Abdul Ghani Kohli and Zulfikar Ali), Kathua two (Dr Nirmal Singh and Lal Singh), Samba (Chander Prakash Ganga), Reasi (Ajay Nanda) and Kishtwar (Sunil Sharma).
Meanwhile, as Mehbooba Mufti Government took charge, the Centre said Jammu and Kashmir has to be taken forward on the lines of development being pursued at the national level and promised to always stand behind the State.
Union Minister for Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs Venkaiah Naidu, who was here to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Mehbooba and her Council of Ministers, advised the new Chief Minister to follow agenda of her father and predecessor Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to develop the State by taking care of people of all regions and bring peace and prosperity.
“BJP and PDP have formed the Government again. It is a good step. It is good for Jammu and Kashmir and also for the country,” he said.
Naidu along with Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Minister of State in the PMO Dr Jitendra Singh, who were special invitees from the Centre for the swearing-in ceremony, arrived at the event after Mehbooba and Dr Nirmal Singh had completed taking the oath.
“The way the development is taking place across the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jammu and Kashmir has also to be taken forward on those lines of development,” said Naidu, who is a senior BJP leader.
Asked about the challenges to the new Government in J&K, he said implementation of the Agenda of the Alliance (AoA), which BJP-PDP coalition partners have formed, is the agenda of this Government as well.
He said the Government should bring peace and prosperity to the Jammu and Kashmir and work along with the Central Government for the benefit of the people of the State.
Responding to questions, Naidu said, “The only advise is — follow Mufti Sahib’s agenda which have been finalised by both the parties, develop the State of Jammu and Kashmir, take care the people of all regions and address the problems of the people on priority basis.”
He said PDP and BJP, rising above their party politics, are determined and committed to focus on the agenda of development.
Dr Jitendra Singh, a senior BJP leader from Jammu and Union MoS in PMO, said the country is moving fast on the development journey under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and “our concern is only that Jammu and Kashmir should not be left behind this journey of peace, progress and prosperity.”
The MoS in PMO said, “the Centre will always be forthcoming to stand behind the State.”
Jitendra Singh expressed confidence that the new Government, which was formed today, will live up to the development plank and take the maximum benefit of the series of developmental schemes and programmes initiated by the Prime Minister.
“The Centre has always been forthcoming in providing all sought of help and assistance to the State of Jammu and Kashmir and as the PM has said that this is one of the biggest packages of Rs 80,000 crore.”
BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, who played a key role in the formation of the coalition, said “Our Government will work with an aim of providing people a good governance, clean administration and development-oriented initiatives as per the Agenda of Alliance and I have full hope of this.”
On the differences over several issues including AFSPA, he said the Government will be guided by AoA, formulated a year ago.
Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh said giving good governance will be major priority of the new Government.
Meanwhile, Congress today boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of the Mehbooba Mufti Government in protest against the imposition of the President’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and termed the new PDP-BJP combine as an “unholy” alliance.
BJP, however, was quick to hit back at Congress and asked it to “look into the past” when its governments at the Centre “dismissed” non-Congress dispensations in the States.
“We boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti as this coalition was unholy from the very beginning. The BJP-PDP Government is a plan of RSS,” PCC (I) chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir told reporters.
“RSS is destroying all institutions in the country. First they destroyed educational institutions and other bodies and now they are targeting elected forums…Like in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It (the boycott) was aimed at protesting this,” Mir said.
“We were to stage protests in all districts but postponed them because a Constitutional activity was going on,” he said.
Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, however, criticized the opposition party by listing instances when its Governments at the Centre “dismissed” non-Congress Governments in the States.
“Congress is a very experienced party. It remained in power for several decades…It is unfortunate that it boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of a democratically elected Government in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
“I want to tell my friends from Congress that the reason they have given is not a justified reason,” he said.
Naidu said the first non-Congress Government was formed in Kerala in 1957 and dismissed by the Congress dispensation in 1959. “In Andhra Pradesh, they dismissed another non-Congress Government in the past. They also dismissed the Karunanidhi Government in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
“President’s rule was imposed seven times during the Jawaharlal Nehru era and 50 times during the Indira Gandhi Government. Six times during Rajiv Gandhi’s period, 11 in Narsimha Rao’s and 10 times during Manmohan Singh’s tenure,” Naidu said.
“During Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi’s tenure, it was imposed only six times,” he said.
“In Arunachal Pradesh, the trouble did not start because of the Centre…It was started by a Congress MLA only. There were internal problems.
“They made an issue of it to boycott the swearing-in ceremony. It is unfortunate that Congress does not believe in the ethics of democracy and are resorting to criticism. They should look into their past,” the Union Minister said.
BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav said, “It is very unfortunate that Congress boycotted the ceremony. It is a moment of celebration of democracy.”
Sidelights
*The oath ceremony started at the stroke of 11 am with national anthem and lasted 40 minutes.
*BJP activists thrice shouted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ while sitting on the chairs in the lawns of Raj Bhavan during oath ceremony-first during the start and second time when the last Minister-Ajay Nanda took the oath. However, none of the Ministers chanted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ after taking the oath.
* Four BJP Ministers including Choudhary Lal Singh, Sunil Sharma, Priya Sethi and Ajay Nanda finished their oath with ‘Jai Hind’.
*Lal Singh took the oath in Dogri while PDP leader Syed Basharat Ahmad Bukhari took oath in Kashmiri. Rest of the members took oath in Hindi, Urdu and English. The members swore in the name of God, Khuda, Allah and Ishwar.
*Governor N N Vohra had to interrupt Asiya Naqash, who was first to take oath as Minister of State, to speak ‘Bilwasta Ya Bilawasta’ as she twice said ‘Bilwasta Ya Bilwasta’. She corrected herself on being interrupted by the Governor.
*Family members of several Ministers, who took oath, were present in the oath ceremony. Mehbooba’s mother, Gulshan Ara and two daughters Iritika and Sanna were among the gathering.
* Two former Cabinet Ministers-Syed Altaf Bukhari (PDP) and Choudhary Sukhnandan Kumar (BJP), who were dropped from the Cabinet, attended the oath taking function while Independent Pawan Gupta, who was also dropped, was absent.
*Senior leaders of both Alliance partners including PDP and BJP were present apart from the Central leaders, who had been deputed to the ceremony as special guests.
* Significantly, barring Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and four new faces-two each from PDP and BJP in the Council of Ministry, all other Ministers took the oath of office and secrecy for the second time in past 13 months. They had taken the oath on March 1, 2015 but the Ministry had ceased to exist on January 7 following the death of then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
*Principal Secretary to Governor, PK Tripathy conducted proceedings of the oath ceremony.
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