Lone refuses to take charge of ‘insignificant’ ministry

Ehsan Fazili & 

Arteev Sharma 

Tribune News Service

Srinagar/Jammu, March 4

The PDP-BJP coalition government suffered a jolt on Wednesday when former separatist leader Sajjad Lone did not assume office as Animal Husbandry and Science & Technology Minister. 

He was unhappy with the portfolio allotted to him by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.  

Instead of taking over, he flew to Srinagar where he was closeted with the leaders of his party, Peoples Conference. He was incommunicado throughout the day today. 

Sajjad Lone had fought the Assembly elections and won. He was inducted into the ministry on March 1, but the allocation of an “insignificant” portfolio left him disappointed. Sources close to him told The Tribune that he was hurt at this kind of treatment. He has given up security, official vehicle and other perks to show his anger. 

On his return from the winter capital of the state, Lone stayed inaccessible to avoid any queries from the media at his Sanat Nagar residence in Srinagar.

Sources in Peoples Conference alleged that the Chief Minister had ensured that the party chairman (Lone) was assigned an “insignificant” portfolio. They added that the PDP had also been spreading rumours that the Peoples Conference had voted against the coalition candidates in the recently held elections for the six seats of the Legislative Council. 

Sources said that a few party leaders had suggested to Sajjad to even quit the Cabinet as it was an insult to “his stature”. However, Sajjad is keeping his plans close to the chest.

This is the third major controversy that has hit the ruling coalition within four days of its formation. 

On the very first day (March 1), Mufti had stoked a controversy when he said that Hurriyat, militant outfits and “people from across the border”  allowed conducive atmosphere for the Assembly elections. 

On the second day, eight PDP MLAs issued a statement supporting Independent MLA Engineer Rashid’s earlier resolution seeking return of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s mortal remains to his family.

BJP ministers ‘sulking’ too

Sources said some BJP ministers were also unhappy over the allocation of portfolios to them and were of the opinion that the PDP had walked away with “plum portfolios”. 

It is learnt that Ministers of State Sunil Kumar Sharma and Pawan Kumar Gupta, who have been given the charge of Public Works and Revenue, and Finance and Information Technology respectively, are not satisfied with their portfolios, but they have not made any statement so far.

 A BJP leader, however, sought to downplay the controversy. He said, “Everything is fine. We are in power for the first time in the history of the state and some of our ministers have no experience of running any department. If all goes well, a Cabinet reshuffle can be held any time and our ministers may be given important portfolios.”