Omar expands cabinet, inducts four new ministers from Kashmir, drops Jammu’s Satish Sharma

Omar Abdullah’s cabinet expansion on Tuesday brought four new ministers from Kashmir into the Jammu and Kashmir government but also saw the exit of Jammu’s representative Satish Sharma, adding a regional dimension to the reshuffle. The Congress, meanwhile, maintained its distance from the ministry, refusing to accept a cabinet berth until statehood is restored to the Union Territory.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy to Ali Mohammad Sagar, Altaf Ahmad Wani, Shamima Firdous and Saifullah Mir at Lok Bhavan in Srinagar in the presence of the Chief Minister and senior political leaders. While the induction strengthened the ministry’s Kashmir representation and increased the number of women ministers to two, the omission of senior NC MLA Mubarak Gul and Abdul Majeed Larmi’s disappointment brought internal dissatisfaction into focus.

Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly inducted Ministers at Srinagar’s Lok Bhavan. The Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, was present on the occasion.

Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Chaudhury dismissed speculation over resentment within the NC following the cabinet expansion, urging the media not to turn the issue into a controversy.

“There is no resentment. The media seems to be carrying all the pain. I would appeal to you not to make a mountain out of a molehill. There is nothing unusual about this; it is normal,” Chaudhury told reporters.

The swearing ceremony was attended by Speaker, J&K Legislative Assembly Abdul Rahim Rather, NC President, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary, Ministers Ms. Sakeena Masood Itoo, Javed Ahmed Rana, and Javid Ahmad Dar, Member of Parliament Gurvinder Singh Oberoi, along with several politicians and senior officials.

Among the newly inducted ministers, Ali Mohammad Sagar is a senior NC leader and represents the Khanyar Assembly constituency in Srinagar. He won the election for the fifth time. He was also a minister in an earlier cabinet of Dr. Farooq Abdullah.

Thrice MLA Shamima Firdous represents the Habbakadal constituency in Srinagar and is a senior National Conference leader. She is president of the party’s women’s wing. She also previously chaired the State Commission for Women in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir.

Mir Saifullah represents the Trehgam Assembly constituency in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. He was previously a minister.

Altaf Ahmad Wani, popularly known as Altaf Kaloo, represents south Kashmir’s Pahalgam constituency in Anantnag district. He entered electoral politics in 2008 and later became a member of the Legislative Council in 2009. He won the Pahalgam Assembly seat in 2014 and returned to the Assembly in 2024.