Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet reshuffle: BJP, PDP to induct seven new faces; a look at the new ministers

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will induct five new faces, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will induct two new ones in the Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet. The saffron party has also decided to drop three ministers in the much-awaited coalition ministry reshuffle slated to take place on Monday. [caption id=“attachment_4443005” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti. AFP[/caption] Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, Health Minister Bali Bhagat and junior minister Priya Sethi will not be included in the new council, top party sources said late Sunday. “Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta will be the new deputy chief minister. Nirmal Singh will be named the new Speaker of the state Legislative Assembly. The other legislators who will be inducted into the cabinet today are Sat Sharma, Rajiv Jasrotia, Devender Maniyal and Shakti Parihar. Parihar will be sworn in as a junior minister while the other four will be of cabinet minister rank.  Among the existing ministers, Sunil Sharma will be elevated to cabinet rank,” sources told IANS. Kavinder Gupta is a former mayor of Jammu. He had won the 2014 Assembly election from Gandhinagar constituency in Jammu. While Sat Sharma is the president of Jammu and Kashmir state unit of the BJP, Devender Maniyal is an SC elect from the Samba constituency in Jammu. On the other hand, Shakti Parihar is an MLA from the Dodha district in Jammu. MLA Rajiv Jasrotiya was in the news recently for having gone missing after the Kathua rape and murder case came to the limelight. The PDP is inducting Pulwama MLA Muhammad Khalil Bhand and Sonawar MLA Muhammad Ashraf Mir on Monday. Khalil had been attacked and injured by a stone-pelting mob in his native district in July 2016. While MLA Ashraf Mir was captured on air firing shots from an AK-47 rifle after defeating former chief minister Omar Abdullah by 4,000 votes from the Sonawar assembly in 2014. State Governor NN Vohra will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers at the Convention Centre. Portfolios of the council of ministers will be announced by chief minister Mehbooba Mufti later on Monday. With inputs from IANS