Tassaduq Mufti, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s brother, while taking oath as a minister in the Raj Bhavan on Thursday, made a major faux-pas when he swore in the name of “dog” instead of “god”.
However, Tassaduq Mufti was quick to rectify himself by saying “god”.
J-K Governor NN Vohra was administering the oath to Tassaduq Mufti, when the mistake happened. Chadoora MLA, Javaid Mustafa Mir also took oath as a minister.
Induction of the two ministers from the PDP quota is expected to be followed with a re-jig of portfolios of ministers.
Tassaduq, who is a former cinematographer, is likely to be given the tourism portfolio later in the evening, sources said. Tassaduq Mufti, 45, earned critical acclaim for his camera work in the Vishal Bhardwaj directorial “Omkara”.
With this, both BJP and PDP have exhausted their quota of ministerial strength in the coalition ministry which can have a maximum of 25 ministers on the basis of the combined strength of the two houses of legislature.
Tassaduq, the youngest of former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s four children, had stayed away from politics for most of his life. When his father, former Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed passed away on January 7, 2016, Tassaduq came back to support his mother and sister.
The Governor nominated him as a member of the state Legislative Council on 22 December in place of Vikramaditya Singh, who quit as a MLC and also from the PDP in October, to protest against Government’s discrimination with the Jammu region.
Tassaduq was heading the Chief Minister’s Grievance Cell before he was nominated a MLC to pave his entry in the ministry.
He was also the PDP candidate for the by-election for the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat but the polling was postponed due to the security situation in the South Kashmir.
Javaid Mustafa Mir, senior PDP leader and MLA from Chadoora constituency in Badgam district, earlier also served as a cabinet minister in 2015 under the senior Mufti.
He was dropped when Mehbooba Mufti took over the Chief Minister in April 2016.