New Delhi: The Omar Abdullah government of Jammu and Kashmir has expanded its cabinet by inducting four new ministers. Four leaders took oath as ministers in a ceremony held at Lok Bhawan in Srinagar on Tuesday. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy to Ali Mohammad Sagar, Altaf Ahmed Wani alias Altaf Kalu, Mir Saifullah and Shamima Firdous. The special thing is that the four leaders included in the cabinet come from Kashmir Valley.
Who is Ali Mohammad Sagar?
Ali Mohammad Sagar is a well-known face of Jammu and Kashmir politics. He has been a minister before and has been elected MLA seven times. He entered the Assembly for the first time in 1983 by winning the elections from Batamaloo Assembly seat. In 1987 also he won from the same seat. After this, in the 1996 assembly elections, he contested from Khanyar seat and won.
Sagar continued his winning streak from Khanyar seat in the 2024 assembly elections also. In this election, he defeated independent candidate and former Deputy Mayor of Srinagar Sheikh Imran by a margin of 9,912 votes. At present he is the General Secretary of National Conference (NC). A special thing about his political journey is that he has not lost any election till now.
Political journey of Mir Saifullah and Altaf Kalu
Mir Saifullah has also been active in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir for a long time. He won for the first time from Kupwara assembly seat in 1996. After this, he retained his seat in the 2002, 2008 and 2014 assembly elections also. In the 2024 assembly elections, he contested from Trehgam seat and defeated People's Conference candidate Bashir Ahmed Dar by about 4,000 votes.
Meanwhile, Altaf Ahmed Wani, also known as Altaf Kalu, represents Pahalgam assembly constituency. He has been elected MLA from this seat twice. He won the 2014 and 2024 assembly elections. In 2024, he defeated his own party leader Rafi Ahmed Mir by a margin of more than 13,000 votes.
Shamima Firdous also included in the cabinet
Shamima Firdous has come into politics from advocacy. She is the state president of the women's unit of the National Conference and is an MLA from Habba Kadal assembly seat of Srinagar. After the cabinet expansion, the role of these four leaders is going to be important in the Omar Abdullah government.