SRINAGAR: After negotiations between the coalition partners, the PDP and the BJP that lasted nearly three days, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Tuesday distributed portfolios among his ministers -- 14 to the PDP and 11 to the BJP.
While Mufti will be looking after the Home and Tourism Departments, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh of the BJP will look after the Power and Housing and Urban Development Departments.
The new Finance Minister, economist and former J&K Bank chairman Haseeb A Drabu, has been allotted the Labour and Employment and Culture portfolios as well.
Separatist-turned-mainstream politician Sajjad Gani Lone got the portfolios of Science and Technology and Animal Husbandry.
And the Health and Medical Education portfolio went to the BJP’s Lal Singh while the Industries and Commerce portfolio was given to the party’s Chander Prakash.
The saffron party’s Sukhnandan Kumar was given the Public Health and Engineering portfolio, and his fellow party MLA Bali Bhagat got the Social Welfare and Forest, Ecology and Environment.
The PDP’s Javaid Mustafa Mir was allotted the Revenue portfolio while Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali and Basharat Bukhar got the portfolios of Public Distribution and Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs respectively. And the Education portfolio went to Naeem Akhtar.