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| Cabinet formation getting tricky | | Congress wants Hakeem, Mir to join party | | NIRBHAY JAMMUAL
Jammu, June 18: The long delayed expansion of state cabinet is seen round the corner but it continues to be a tough task for the ruling National Conference and Congress leadership as the aspirations are running high for the numbers of berths which are limited.
The list of members of the Assembly and Council aspiring for berth in the cabinet is long. The vacancies are 15 and the potential aspirants are more than 45. There were 25 vacancies in all and 10 have been filled. Those who have found the berth in the cabinet are lucky. Some among them have been destined to occupy ministerial berth whether it is the PDP-Congress coalition Government or the National Conference-Congress ruling coalition. Others seem to be unlucky. Those who can be counted among the lucky legislators include Abdul Rahim Rather, Ali Mohammad Sagar, Surjit Singh Slathia, Mian Altaf, Tara Chand, Taj Mohi-ud-Din, Peerzada Mohammad Syeed, It is after a long gap that Mangat Ram Sharma has missed the bus. He would have been the Deputy Chief Minister had he won the Assembly election.
Those who have usually remained unlucky include Saifullah Mir of National Conference, who has been the member of the Assembly in 1996, 2002 and 2008 and Mubarak Gul who was elected to the lower House in 1983,1996, 2002 and 2008. This time the cabinet expansion has been delayed because of the lack of unanimity over the choice of Congress candidates for ministerial berths. Atleast 16 Congress legislators, including those in the Upper House, are aspiring for eight cabinet seats that are to be filled by the Congress faces. This way it is difficult. In addition to this two MLAs, Ghulam Hassan Mir and Hakeem Mohammad Yasin, too are keen to get the cabinet berth. Yasin was a cabinet Minister during the Mufti's and Azad's time while Mir remained in the cabinet only during the time the Mufti headed the Government. For the Congress leadership it has been a major problem. Initially it had assured Mir and Yasin cabinet posts once they supported the NC led Government. The two announced their support for the ruling coalition. Now that the Congress leadership believes that there may be heartburns among sever al legislators if Mir and Yasin were taken in the cabinet at the cost of two congress legislators.
The Congress leadership has played a trick with Mir and Yesin has suggested to them that they should join the Congress first if they wanted to get inducted in the cabinet. The two have resisted it so far. Mir and Yasin have informed the Congress leadership that they should be treated as associate members of the Congress so that they were not forced to wind up their organizations. Mir heads the Jammu Kashmir Democratic Party and Yasin leads the Peoples' Democratic Front. Some of the Congress legislators hold Ghulam Nabi Azad responsible for having supported a central piece of legislation under which the state is bound to have not more than 25 ministers which comes to 20 per cent of the total strength of the members of the two Houses. Had not the previous Congress led ruling coalition adopted the law Omar Abdullah could have easily taken 35 to 40 legislators in the cabinet. Omar and Sonia Gandhi should introduce a scheme for rewarding those legislators with some other lucrative assignments who do not mount pressure on the coalition partners for their induction in the cabinet. Can it be possible? Next two months will determine it because there are some corporations and Boards that are headless.
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