NC names Mubarak Gul General Secy amid Cabinet omission backlash

Srinagar, Oct 28 (IANS) In a swift damage-control exercise, National Conference (NC) President Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday appointed senior party leader and Eidgah MLA Mubarak Gul as the NC General Secretary, hours after Gul publicly expressed outrage over his omission from the newly expanded Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet.

The appointment came shortly after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah administered the oath of office to four new Cabinet ministers at a ceremony held at Lok Bhawan. 

Gul, who attended the swearing-in ceremony, voiced his anger immediately after the event concluded.

“I have attended 20 swearing-in ceremonies so far, and I am a senior leader of the party. Shockingly, I have been left out,” Gul told reporters before heading to the NC headquarters at the Nawa-e-Subha complex, where his supporters had already gathered to chant slogans in his favour.

To contain the growing rift, Farooq Abdullah, accompanied by newly sworn-in minister Ali Muhammad Sagar and other senior leaders, rushed to the party headquarters, where Abdullah officially announced Gul’s elevation to the post of NC General Secretary and garlanded him.

However, the organisational post appears to have failed to fully appease the veteran leader. Gul subsequently informed reporters that he would announce his future course of action at a press conference scheduled for November 4.

The Cabinet expansion triggered wider resentment within the ruling party’s ranks:

Abdul Majeed Larmi (MLA, Anantnag West), the three-time legislator, virtually broke down while addressing the media. 

“I was told to wait till 11 PM yesterday. I waited for the phone call, which never came. I am a dedicated and honest party loyalist, and I am shocked at my non-inclusion,” Larmi said, though he added that he would remain a faithful NC worker and had no plans to quit the party.

Gurez MLA Nazir Ahmad Gurezi skipped the swearing-in ceremony entirely to register his protest over being passed over.

Kangan MLA Mian Mehr Ali, the first-time legislator from Ganderbal district, also boycotted the ceremony. 

As the son of senior NC leader and prominent Gujjar figure Mian Altaf Ahmad, who currently serves as the NC Member of Parliament from the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency, Mehr Ali was widely anticipated to secure a Cabinet berth to represent the sizable Gujjar and Bakarwal communities.

--IANS

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