Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has paved the way to induct her brother Tassaduq Mufti in her ministry by nominating him a member of the legislative council.
However, Governor NN Vohra has raised certain queries over the procedure for Tassaduq’s nomination while a petition was pending in the court on the nominations made in 2015. The government was reportedly preparing its reply to the Governor’s query.
In the meantime, Mehbooba’s uncle Farooq Ahmad Andrabi on Wednesday resigned from the PDP–BJP ministry to make place for Tassaduq in the cabinet.
Tassaduq is likley to be inducted in the ministry before beginning of the budget session of the legislature on 2 January, PDP activists say.
Observers feel that Mehbooba’s exercise of making Tassaduq a minister was a step towards strengthening her grip within the ruling PDP and also political scenario of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mehbooba has been facing opposition within the party on various contentious issues, including the alliance with BJP that has to some extent hit at the political base of the PDP, in the valley.
Unlike her father Mufti Sayeed, she has so far not been able to make grip over the administration that was functioning allegedly with bias towards the Jammu and Ladakh regions resulting in embarassment for her coalition partner BJP that had won the assembly and Lok Sabha seats from the two regions.
A founder member of the PDP, Tariq Hameed Karra, had resigned from the party and also his Lok Sabha seat in protest against the alliance with BJP and “excesses” on the people during the recent unrest in the valley.
Another senior PDP leader, Muzaffar Hussain Beigh, during a recent meeting of the party, told senior leaders to sort out the differences on the party forum instead of airing them outside.
In a clever move, Mehbooba had reportedly got the plan to nominate Tassaduq as a MLC endorsed by the cabinet in which BJP ministers were present. While electioneering in the state, Prime Minister Narendera Modi had asked the people to end the practice of dynastic rule in J&K.