Jammu, Oct. 27 -- The Congress was present at the swearing-in, but not in the government. Although Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Tariq Hamid Karra and other party MLAs attended the oath-taking ceremony of the newly inducted ministers on Tuesday, the Cabinet expansion has effectively marked the end of the Congress's coalition with the ruling National Conference (NC). At the heart of the rift is a set of demands that the NC leadership turned down.
The Congress had sought the post of Deputy Chief Minister and that of Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. With the NC unwilling to concede either, the party declined to accept the single ministerial berth on offer, choosing to remain outside the Council of M...