The Congress will not be part of the new Jammu and Kashmir government – despite having allied with Chief Minister-elect Omar Abdullah’s National Conference to win last month’s election – sources told NDTV Tuesday morning. The party – which sources said had declined the offer of one ministerial berth in the incoming government – will offer support from the outside instead.
However, two senior leaders – Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and the party’s General Secretary, Priyanka Vadra Gandhi – will attend the swearing-in ceremony, which will also see eight ministers (the maximum allowed) take oath alongside Mr Abdullah.
Mr Abdullah will be sworn in as the new Chief Minister – J&K’s first elected head of state in a decade – this morning, after guiding the NC to victory in the September-October election.
The NC dominated the election, winning 42 of the former state’s 90 elected seats. The Congress – expected to do well – flopped, winning only six seats; it won 12 in the 2014 election.
This meant the Kashmiri party claimed ‘big brother’ status in the alliance and could name the Chief Minister; NC patriarch Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah’s father, quickly named his son.
The NC’s hand was further strengthened by four independents and the lone Aam Aadmi Party legislator also offering support – to the party and not its alliance with the Congress.
Those results – coupled with defeat to the BJP in Haryana – cranked up the pressure on the INDIA bloc head, with friendly outfits like Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction, an ally in next month’s Maharashtra election, criticising its inability to play nice with regional parties.
