New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to expand his council of ministers to include a key leader from the restive Kashmir region, sources said, as he looks to win the support of allies to push economic reforms through Parliament.
Mehbooba Mufti, daughter of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which governs in the region alongside Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will be inducted into the 65-member council, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Modi is expected to announce the changes - his second reshuffle of the executive body since he stormed to power last May - before he departs for an overseas trip on April 8, the sources said.
The BJP made history in February when it formed a surprise coalition in Jammu and Kashmir with the PDP, the first time the party has had a role in governing the Muslim-majority state.
The PDP's decision last month to release from prison a leading figure in the October 2010 stone pelting case angered opposition parties and embarrassed Modi just as he is struggling to get key pieces of his economic reform agenda passed in Parliament.
That includes a controversial bill to change land acquisition rules, which has been held up in the Upper House where Modi's party lacks a majority.
Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan and the nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two wars over the contested region since 1947.
Unlike Modi's party, the PDP supports self-rule for the region.
Among several other expected changes to the council, Modi will also induct a representative from the Shiv Sena, the BJP's coalition partner in Maharashtra, one of the sources said.
####
Comments
0 comment