Mehbooba Mufti took oath as the first woman chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir today.
Highlights
- Altaf Bukhari, a dissident, and three others not included in cabinet
- Bukhari along with others reportedly tried forming govt with BJP
- 'I wanted to avert mid-term polls, not break up party', claims Bukhari
, first woman chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, cracked the whip on dissidence in her People's Democratic Party or PDP as she took oath today.
She has excluded from her council of ministers Altaf Bukhari and three others who were ministers in her father Mufti Mohammad Saeed's team.
Altaf Bukhari a business tycoon and a powerful minister till January this year, had reportedly led a dissident group in the hope of forming a government with the BJP last month when talks between Ms Mufti and the BJP leadership had broken down.
As 23 new ministers took oath today along with Ms Mufti, Mr Bukhari told NDTV that he has no regrets. "I did not want to break the party but I was trying to prevent mid-term elections," he said, adding, I am satisfied that mid-term elections have been averted and a government is being formed."
The other three leaders dropped from the ministerial team are Javid Mustafa Mir, Mohammad Ashraf Mir and Majid Paddar - there is no clarity if they too were suspected to have participated in the attempt to set up a government without Ms Mufti.
The dissidents, who were said to have worked out an understanding with the BJP when Ms Mufti delayed government formation while renegotiating their alliance for three months, were stumped when she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announced that all differences had been ironed out.
Mr Bukhari claims he had not kept his engagement with the BJP a secret. He said he had conveyed to the PDP leadership that in case Mehbooba Mufti was not ready to form government, he would do so to prevent mid-term elections.
Former chief minister and Ms Mufti's chief political rival Omar Abdullah alleges that she continues to face dissension. He said he had conveyed his concern to the J&K Governor last month as he did not want defections in the PDP.
"I was very keen that we don't have dismembering of parties for government formation. I wanted a clean government to be formed, which is an alliance between existing PDP and the BJP. What I didn't want to see was rebel groups coming, factions of PDP - that's not in the interest of politics in the state," said Mr Abdullah, who leads the National Conference.
While Ms Mufti may be facing a tough challenge on the political front, her family is strongly backing her and wants her to step into the shoes of her father.
"I think it is a big day for women everywhere, especially women in Kashmir. She is a role model for women everywhere, I hope seeing her more women will step out and do whatever they want to do," Irtika, the elder daughter of Ms Mufti, told NDTV.
Her younger daughter Iltija told NDTV "My mother is a sort of person who takes advice from everyone but eventually the decision is always hers, she doesn't come under pressure."