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| J&K gets new Govt, Mufti, 24 Ministers administered oath | | |  Bashir Assad
Early Times Report
Jammu, March 1: Ending 49-days of Governor rule, Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday got a new government with PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed taking oath as Chief Minister of a 25-member cabinet which marked the entry of BJP for the first time in the state government.
79-year-old Sayeed was administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor N N Vohra at Zorawar Auditorium where the ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leaders -- L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, party President Amit Shah and General Secretary Ram Madhav. The swearing-in was boycotted by National Conference.
Apart from Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, thirteen ministers from the PDP took oath of office from the governor N N Vohra on Sunday. They include ten Cabinet ministers and three Ministers of State (MoS).
The Cabinet ministers from PDP include, Ab Rahman Veri, Javed Mustafa Mir, Ab Haq Khan, Syed Basharat Bukhari, Chaudhary Zulfikar Ali, Dr Haseeb Drabu, Ghulam Nabi Lone, Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, Imran Ansari and Naeem Akhtar.
The MoS from PDP include Ab Majid Paddar, Mohammad Ashraf Mir and Aasia Naqash.
From the BJP Cabinet ministers who took their oath include Dr Nirmal Singh, Chandar Prakash, Lal Singh, Bali Baghat and Sukhnandan Kumar while as Cheering Dhorje, Sunil Kumar Sharma, Ab Gani Kohli, Priya Sethi and Pawan Kumar Gupta are among the MoS from BJP.
The cabinet saw entry of separatist turned mainstream politician Sajjad Gani Lone being sworn-in as the cabinet minister from the BJP quota. After the swearing-in, he received a tight-hug from the Prime Minister.
The alliance, which has been termed by Sayeed as meeting of "North Pole and South Pole", saw senior BJP leader Nirmal Singh being sworn-in as Deputy Chief Minister, a historic day for the saffron party in the state as it became part of the government for the first time.
Sayeed's swearing-in as the 12th Chief Minister brings to an end to 49 days of Governor's rule imposed on the state since the resignation of Omar Abdullah as chief minister after being voted out of power last December.
It also marks Sayeed's return to the top post after nearly a decade since having led a PDP-Congress coalition government for three years from January 2002.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who attended the ceremony at Jammu University's General Zorawar Singh Auditorium, said, "The PDP-BJP government is a historic opportunity to fulfill the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and take the state to new heights of progress".
"Politics is the art of the possible, even when there are contradictions," Mr Sayeed later said. He had earlier dubbed the coalition as a meeting of the "North Pole and the South Pole".
The ceremony was attended by BJP chief Amit Shah, veteran leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.
This is Mufti Sayeed's second stint as the Chief Minister. He held the post between 2002 and 2005 in a rotational arrangement with then ally Congress.
Later,Mufti Sayeed offered a glimpse of the much-awaited Common Minimum Programme, or CMP, on basis of which they will govern the state. The ideologically opposite parties have spent the last two months in attempts to bridge differences that have divided them for decades.
The document clarifies their stand over contentious issues like Article 370, which gives special constitutional status to the state, and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act or AFSPA, which gives the Army the authority to make arrests without warrants.
Sidelights
Heavy security Babdobast in Jammu University
Heavy security was deployed at Zorawar auditorium in Jammu where the ceremony took place. Special Protection Group, Special Security Group, police and paramilitary forces were heavily deployed at the venue. Additional security was in force in Jammu city and border areas.
Lal Singh takes oath in Dogri, Naeem in Urdu
Mufti Muhammad Sayeed took the oath in English and was followed by majority of PDP legislators who too preferred to take their oath of allegiance to the constitution of India in English. However, Chief spokesman of the party , Naeem Akhtar, preferred Urdu over English.
On the contrary majority of the BJP legislators took their oath in Hindi. However Lal Singh, wearing a turban, which symbolizes the strength and vision of a Dogra, took the oath in Dogri language. Separatist turned mainstream politician Sajjad Lone who was also sworn in as a Minister took the oath in English.
Retired bureaucrats changing coloures like chameleon
Around a dozen of retired bureaucrats were seen surrounding the new ministers in an obvious attempt to seek their rehabilitation. A retired bureaucrat who was given extension after he retired in 2012 by the Omar Abdullah government was seen rushing towards Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's cavalcade when he left the auditorium after the swearing in ceremony to wave at him. One more retired bureaucrat was seen walking up to Mehbooba Mufti and extending greetings to her.
Soz attends oath ceremony
PCC President Professor Saifuddin Soz along with many congress legislators attended the swearing in ceremony. Soz who has offered to quit as the PCC chief was seen hugging senior PDP leaders minutes before the oath taking ceremony.
Only Mufti and Basharat walked upto the Governor for handshake
Barring Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Sayed Basharat Bukhari all the ministers who were administered oath of office and ceremony detracted from the precedence of shaking hand with and thanking Governor N N Vohra after taking the oath.
After Mufti, only Basharat walked up to the Governor, shook hand with him and thanked him for giving oath. All other ministers ignorantly avoided the handshake.
Mehbooba in discussions with Joshi
PDP President Mehbooba Mufti was seen busy talking to senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi throughout the oath taking ceremony. Joshi earlier hugged Mehbooba as a daughter and then the two kept discussing the issues throughout the swearing in ceremony. |
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