Omar to expand cabinet on Sat; 11 new ministers

Jammu and Kashmir cabinet will be expanded on Saturday with the induction of 11 new faces, including five from NC and four from ally Congress, taking the strength of the six-month-old coalition ministry to 20.

Jammu and Kashmir cabinet will be expanded on Saturday with the induction of 11 new faces, including five from NC and four from ally Congress, taking the strength of the six-month-old coalition ministry to 20.

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To fast track the process, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah met Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhavan in this regard, official sources said.

Omar and nine cabinet ministers - five from Congress and four from NC - had taken oath on January 5 after the two stitched a coalition post elections.

Now, the coalition has agreed to induct Ghulam Hassan Mir and Hakim Mohammad Yasin, presidents of Democratic Party Nationalist and Peoples Democratic Front respectively. Both are allies of junior partner Congress.

From NC, Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan, Sakina Itoo, Javid Ahmad Dar, Qamar Ali Akhoon and Sajad Ahmad Kichloo are expected to get ministerial berths, while Congress nominees are likely to be Choudhary Mohammad Aslam, Raman Bhalla, Aijaz Ahmad Khan and Ghulam Mohammad Saroori.

Sources said the names of new ministers have been finalised at a coordination committee meeting of the coalition on June 30. PCC president Saifuddin Soz Congress had already submitted its list of probable ministers.