Neeraj Rohmetra
JAMMU, Dec 26: Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti will be inducting two faces in her Cabinet including her 45-year-old cinematographer brother, Tassaduq Hussain Mufti, on December 28.
Reliable sources told EXCELSIOR, “while several names were doing the rounds, the other PDP MLA to be inducted into the Ministry would be Javed Mustafa Mir, who had earlier served as Revenue Minister in the Cabinet of former Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 2015”.
“Governor N N Vohra would administer the oath of office and secrecy to the newly inducted Ministers on December 28 at 11 am at Raj Bhavan lawns. The ceremony is also likely to witness some minor changes in the portfolios held by the PDP Ministers”, sources asserted.
Sources added, “with the filling of these two vacancies, the PDP would also exhaust the quota of its Ministers while its coalition partner – BJP has already exhausted its share in the Ministry. With these changes, the PDP would have 14 Ministers including Chief Minister and BJP 11”.
“The induction of new Ministers in the Council of Ministry would lead to changes of some portfolios but the change would be confined to PDP only and the portfolios of BJP will remain unchanged”, sources said adding, “Tassaduq, who won the Zee Cine and Star Screen awards for Best Cinematographer in 2006 for Omkara, is likely to be given Tourism and Culture portfolio, which is presently with his sister and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti”.
On December 22, Governor N N Vohra had nominated Tassaduq Hussain Mufti as a Member of Legislative Council. “Though Tassaduq hasn’t taken oath as member of the Upper House, he can still be inducted into the Council of Ministry”, legal sources opined.
Javed Mustafa Mir, who represents Chadoora constituency, had served as Revenue Minister in the Cabinet of former Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 2015. However, he had been dropped by Mehbooba after taking over as Chief Minister on April 4, 2016. Other Ministers, who were dropped from the Ministry included the then Works Minister, Altaf Bukhari and two Ministers of State — Mohammad Ashraf Mir and Abdul Majid Padder. Javed Mustafa Mir has won three elections in a row from Chadoora.
Uncle of Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti and former Minister of State for Haj and Auqaf, Farooq Ahmad Andrabi, who had tendered his resignation from the Ministry on December 21 also held number of portfolios. These included Industries, Irrigation and Flood Control, Power and Public Health Engineering.
“After Andrabi’s resignation, these Departments need to be distributed amongst the PDP Ministers”, sources opined.
The last Cabinet reshuffle had taken place in first week of February this year with the re-induction of Altaf Bukhari as the Education Minister.
After Altaf Bukhari’s re-induction and change in portfolios, Sports Minister Imran Raza Ansari and Horticulture Minister Basharat Bukhari had resigned over allotment of insignificant portfolios to them but had resumed work on the advice of the Chief Minister as they had been assured some better portfolios.
As per Jammu and Kashmir Constitution, there can be maximum of 25 Ministers (20 per cent of the total strength of both Houses of Legislature). With induction of two faces, both PDP and BJP will exhaust their share in the Ministry.
Presently, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has been holding additional charge of various Departments including Home, GAD, Planning, Tourism, Hospitality and Protocol, Estates, Civil Aviation, Information, etc.
Tassaduq had taken to State politics after his father and former Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passed away on January 7, 2015.
A cinematographer by profession, 45-year old Tassaduq Mufti holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the American Center. He is also the brain behind a five-minute short film on the State’s Tourism Department.
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