JAMMU :The two-year-old cabinet of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is set for a major reshuffle on Tuesday, with the possibility that all berths will be filled by introducing new faces.
According to officials, ahead of the reshuffle, all the ministers have submitted their resignations to help party president Farooq Abdullah and the Chief Minister to prepare a fresh team to run the government in the Union Territory.
Sources said that senior National Conference leaders Ali Mohd Sagar, Altaf Kaloo, Shamim Firdous and Saifullah Mir are likely to be inducted into the Omar Abdullah ministry, while incumbent minister Satish Sharma is all set to be dropped.
While the J&K government has kept the new list secret, officials said that the fresh cabinet will be complete with all nine ministers, including the Chief Minister.
The earlier strength of the Omar Abdullah-led cabinet was six. As per the rules, a cabinet in a UT can be up to 10 per cent of the assembly strength, which is 90 in J&K.
The Congress, which is an ally of the government, has distanced itself from the cabinet and stuck to its stand of not joining the council of ministers until statehood is restored.
Some of the ministers in the cabinet may also lose some departments, the officials said, adding that emphasis has been laid on ensuring representation from every region of J&K.
There is also speculation that Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather may also be included in the cabinet, keeping in mind his experience in handling the crucial finance portfolio in the previous National Conference governments, the officials said.
Earlier, National Conference spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq told reporters that "the oath-taking ceremony for the new ministers is scheduled to take place at 10.30 am on Tuesday".
Sadiq said the party leadership, including the party president and chief minister, will decide on the new faces to be inducted into the council of ministers.
The Chief Minister on Saturday called on Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and sought time for swearing in new ministers as part of reshuffle and expansion in the council of ministers.
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