Jammu, Oct. 27 -- More than two years after taking charge as the first Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah on Tuesday redrew his Council of Ministers, bringing in four National Conference (NC) leaders and showing the door to the government's only independent minister.
The new inductees are veteran party leader Ali Mohammad Sagar, Mir Saifullah, Shameema Firdous and Altaf Ahmad Kalloo. Independent MLA Satish Sharma, who represents Chamb in Jammu district, was dropped from the Council.
The regional balance of the new entrants is notable. Two come from Srinagar district: Sagar, MLA from Khanyar, and Firdous, MLA from Habba Kadal. The two others are Saifullah, who represents Trehgam in north Kashmir's Kup...