Six from BJP, two from PDP join new ministry
Jammu, Apr 30 (KNS): Governor N.N. Vohra administered Oath of Office and Secrecy at the Jammu Convention Centre here today to the Council of Ministers.
The Council of Ministers who took Oath as Minister for State included Kavinder Gupta, Mohd. Khalil Band, Sat Paul Sharma, Mohammad Ashraf Mir, Sunil Kumar Sharma, Rajiv Jasrotia, and Devinder Kumar Manyal. Shakti Raj took Oath as Minister of State. The ministers took oath after Deputy Chief Nirmal Singh and PDP heavy weight Abdul Haq Khan the outgoing Rural Development minister submitted the resignations and Governor N N Vohra on the recommendations of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti early Monday morning.
It is in place to mention here that the reshuffle in the PDP-BJP coalition ministry was necessitated by the resignations of two BJP ministers Chowdhary Lal Singh and Chander Prakash Ganga on the directions of their party’s central high command over their participation in a rally called by Hindu Ekta Manch in support of the accused of Kathua rape and murder case.
The Oath ceremony was attended by Mehbooba Mufti, Chief Minister; Ministers; Chairpersons and Vice-Chairpersons of various Boards and Commissions; Members of Parliament; Legislators; Sh. B.B. Vyas, Chief Secretary; Dr. S.P. Vaid, DGP; senior Civil and Police officers, political leaders and prominent citizens of the State. (KNS)