Avinash Azad
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday expanded his Council of Ministers, inducting four National Conference (NC) legislators and dropping Independent MLA Satish Sharma, the only minister from the Jammu region in the previous cabinet. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers at Lok Bhawan in Srinagar.
The four new ministers are senior NC leader Ali Mohammad Sagar, Shameema Firdous, Mir Saifullah and Altaf Ahmad Wani, popularly known as Altaf Kaloo. All four belong to the National Conference and represent constituencies in the Kashmir Valley.
Chief Minister Abdullah retained Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, Javed Ahmed Rana, Javaid Ahmad Dar and Sakina Itoo in his expanded team. With the reshuffle, the Council of Ministers has reached its maximum permissible strength of nine members, including the Chief Minister.
Satish Sharma, an Independent MLA from the Chhamb constituency in Jammu district, was dropped from the cabinet. His exit means the Jammu region now has only two ministers in the government—Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and Javed Ahmed Rana.
The Congress, an ally of the National Conference-led government, did not join the expanded cabinet. The party has maintained that it will remain outside the government until Jammu and Kashmir’s full statehood is restored, while continuing to support the administration from outside.
As a result, no Independent MLA has been included in the expanded cabinet, and the Council of Ministers now comprises only legislators from the National Conference.
This is the first major expansion of the Omar Abdullah-led government since it assumed office in October 2024. The induction of senior leaders such as Ali Mohammad Sagar and Mir Saifullah, along with Shameema Firdous and Altaf Kaloo, is being seen as an attempt to balance experience, regional representation and gender representation within the NC-led administration. The portfolio allocation for the newly inducted ministers is expected to be announced separately.
