NC-Cong finalizes names of new Cabinet Ministers

Oath taking ceremony likely on Saturday

Coalition partners (National Conference and Congress) have finalized the names of 15 new Cabinet Ministers including eight of Congress and seven of National Conference (NC). The oath taking ceremony is expected to take place on Saturday at 4:00 PM at Srinagar.

Highly placed sources said that the Chief Minister (CM) Omar Abdullah and state Congress chief Saif-ud-Din Soz have finalized the list. List of Congress ministers was finalized in consultation with the Congress high command in consultation with former CM Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Sources indicated that the Congress has finalized the names of GM Saroori, Dr. Romesh, Raman Bhalla, Shabir Khan, Ch. Mohd Aslam, Aijaz Ahmed Khan and Abdul Majid Wani.

While National Conference (NC) has finalized the names of Sakina Itoo, Ch. Mohammed Ramzan, Mir Saifullah, Sajjad Kichloo, Mustafa Kamal and Radhay Sham. Interestingly, former Ministers Ghulam Hassan Mir and Hakim Muhammad Yaseen of the Democratic Party (Nationalist) are also in the list to get a cabinet berth. The Congress would get eight slots and the NC seven in the cabinet expansion. Besides these names, others from both the parties would be included as Minister of States (MoS) to accommodate various constituencies of the alliance partners.