Srinagar: As the recent cabinet rejig has attracted protests within the party, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Friday asked Ali Mohammad Sagar to continue as party general secretary, in an apparent snub to senior party leader Mubarak Gul, who has been sulking after he was overlooked for inclusion in the expanded council of ministers.
National Conference (NC) appointed Gul, the six-time MLA from the Eidgah seat, as general secretary, replacing Sagar after the latter was inducted into the council of ministers on Tuesday.
Gul had publicly expressed displeasure over being left out of the council of ministers, and to quell the discontent, the NC president appointed Gul as the party’s new general secretary.
However, as Gul did not take up the party post and remained miffed with the party leadership, Abdullah on Friday asked Sagar to continue discharging the duties as the party’s general secretary until further orders.
“Jammu and Kashmir National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah has ordered that Haji Ali Mohammad Sagar shall continue to function as the general secretary of the party until further orders,” the party said in a post on X.
The plot becomes thicker.
Three days after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s cabinet expansion, 17 party MLAs assembled at the residence of Lolab legislator Qaiser Jamsheed Lone on Friday, a gathering whose timing and composition have attracted political attention despite an assertion by senior leader Nazir Ahmad Gurezi that it was nothing more than a friendly lunch.
The meeting brought under one roof several legislators whose names had figured in the run-up to the October 27 expansion, including Gurezi, former Assembly Speaker Mubarak Gul and Anantnag West MLA Abdul Majid Larmi, against the backdrop of disappointment over ministerial exclusions and questions about regional representation.
Speaking exclusively to Kashmir News Service (KNS), Gurezi sought to dispel speculation surrounding the gathering, saying the legislators had been invited by Qaiser Jamsheed Lone for lunch and that no political significance should be attached to the occasion.
Gurezi’s clarification came amid heightened attention to developments within the ruling party following the reshuffle, which filled the remaining ministerial berths and left little room for accommodating other aspirants without another change in the cabinet’s composition.
Highly placed sources told Kashmir News Service (KNS) that the legislators present included Hasnain Masoodi (Pampore), Ghulam Mohiuddin Mir (Rajpora), Javid Ahmad (Karnah), Saif-ud-Din Bhat (Khansahib), Farooq Ahmad Shah (Tangmarg), Mubarak Gul (Eidgah), Nazir Ahmad Khan (Gurez), Hilal Akbar Lone (Sonawari), Bashir Ahmad Veeri (Bijbehara), Abdul Majid Bhat alias Larmi (Anantnag West), Aijaz Ahmad Jan (Poonch Haveli), Javid Iqbal Choudhary (Budhal), Arjun Singh Raju (Ramban), Khursheed Ahmad (Gulabgarh), Dr Sajad Shafi (Uri), Mushtaq Ahmad Guroo (Chanapora) and Muzaffar Iqbal Khan (Thanamandi).
Ahead of the expansion, Omar Abdullah had announced that the list of ministers was ready and urged party colleagues against lobbying for cabinet positions, making it clear that the leadership had already taken a decision on the proposed inductions.
Gurezi, a senior National Conference legislator from north Kashmir who had been widely discussed as a possible ministerial entrant, did not attend the oath-taking ceremony, drawing attention to his absence at a time when expectations of his induction had been particularly high.
Hours after the ceremony, newly inducted ministers Mir Saifullah and Altaf Ahmad Kaloo visited Gurezi at his Tulsi Bagh residence in Srinagar, accompanied by party legislators, including Qaiser Jamsheed Lone and Hilal Akbar Lone.
That meeting became a subject of political discussion, although party leaders sought to play down suggestions of any internal confrontation.
Another notable presence was Mubarak Gul, whose exclusion from the ministry had also generated discussion within the party.
Gul, a former Assembly Speaker and senior National Conference figure, had been among the names circulating ahead of the expansion. Following his exclusion, NC president Farooq Abdullah appointed him the party’s general secretary, the organisational position previously held by Ali Mohammad Sagar.
Abdul Majid Larmi, who had also expressed disappointment over not being considered for ministerial office, was among those attending Friday’s meeting.
The presence of legislators from Rajouri and Poonch added another layer to the gathering, given the questions raised over the absence of ministerial representation from the twin border districts.
Thanamandi MLA Muzaffar Iqbal Khan had previously voiced concern over the region’s exclusion from the expanded ministry. He was joined at Friday’s gathering by Poonch Haveli MLA Aijaz Ahmad Jan and Budhal MLA Javid Iqbal Choudhary.
