Mehbooba Mufti Sworn In As First Woman Chief Minister Of Jammu And Kashmir

Srinagar: Mehbooba Mufti of the Peoples Democratic Party or PDP took oath this morning as the first woman Chief Minister of the country's only Muslim majority state, Jammu and Kashmir, at the head of a coalition government that includes the BJP.

The 56-year-old succeeds her father Mufti Mohammad Saeed who died in January this year. 23 ministers are taking oath along with Ms Mufti, including members of the BJP, whose Nirmal Singh will be Deputy chief minister.

In an indication of the struggles that lie ahead for Ms Mufti, senior PDP leader and lawmaker Tariq Karra boycotted the oath ceremony.

"I had a meeting Mehboobaji till late last night. I wanted three ministers who have played a dubious role and are responsible for the failure of Mufti Mohammad Saeed to be dropped," Mr Karra told NDTV.
Mr Karra wanted Ms Mufti to exclude key PDP leaders Altaf Bukhari, Naeem Akhtar and Haseeb Drabu from her council of ministers. He alleges that they plotted to form government in alliance with the BJP without Ms Mufti as she refused to take oath for three months after her father's death.

Ms Mufti dropped Mr Bukhari, but not the others. She has instead replaced two lawmakers who were junior ministers in Mufti Saeed's team.

Mr Karra is no lightweight. In 2014, he defeated former union minister Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference in the general elections.

Ms Mufti has been criticised for delaying government formation as she wanted the BJP-led Centre to agree to several demands. But the BJP stood its ground saying it would agree to no pre-conditions for an alliance.

Last week, after a long stalemate, Ms Mufti's meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the way for a PDP-BJP government to take oath. But her struggle to manage a difficult coalition remains.

Former J&K chief minister and Ms Mufti's main rival Omar Abdullah has prophesied that Mehbooba will face "more alliance contradictions" in the partnership with the BJP, an ideological opposite.

State elections in December 2014 gave no party a majority in the 70 member J&K assembly. The PDP, with 28 seats and the BJP with 25 had formed government after weeks of hard negotiations last year.