SRINAGAR, October 26 (Aalimi Nation) – The Jammu and Kashmir government will expand its Council of Ministers on Tuesday, with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha due to administer the oath of office and secrecy at the Lok Bhavan Auditorium in Srinagar at 10:30 am, according to the official invitation.
The J&K cabinet expansion follows a weekend in which Chief Minister Omar Abdullah told reporters the exercise would take place within "two or three days". He spoke after meeting the Lieutenant Governor at Lok Bhavan on Saturday, a meeting he said was also meant to enquire about Mr Sinha's health following his return to Srinagar after an illness.
Mr Abdullah said he had asked the Lieutenant Governor to fix a time in the first two or three days of the coming week, and that the date was for the Lieutenant Governor to decide. He said the list had been finalised after consultations with National Conference president Farooq Abdullah. "After consultations with Farooq Abdullah, the list is ready," he said, adding that the decision "has already been made".
The chief minister also sought to discourage lobbying within his party. "There is no need for anyone to knock on Farooq Sahib's door, my door or anyone else's door," he said, and asked party colleagues to refrain from such efforts. He said he had received many messages, calls and biodata from aspirants.
The government has not yet announced how many ministers will take the oath or who they are. Reports differ on the number of vacancies in the council, and the names had not been made public at the time of writing.
The Congress, which has backed the National Conference-led government from outside since the 2024 Assembly elections, has said it will not join the ministry for now. Raman Bhalla, the party's working president in the Union Territory, said the J&K Congress had ruled out entering the cabinet at this stage. He said the party's priorities were the restoration of full statehood and constitutional safeguards, along with protections for local jobs and land rights.
Mr Bhalla also called for a single power centre rather than the present dual structure, in which an elected government functions alongside a Lieutenant Governor with substantial powers. The Congress has cited the delay in restoring statehood as the reason for staying outside the government.
Mr Abdullah took office as chief minister in October 2024 after the first Assembly elections in the region in a decade, with a small Council of Ministers sworn in by the Lieutenant Governor. Since then the government has operated with a limited ministerial strength, and the question of expansion has remained a recurring talking point within the ruling alliance.
Invitees to the ceremony have been asked to confirm attendance by 5 pm on Monday and to arrive by 10 am on Tuesday. The portfolio allocation that follows the oath will show how the National Conference balances regional and community representation in the Union Territory, and whether any existing ministers are moved. Officials have not said whether any current ministers will leave the council.
