Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah inducted four new ministers into his Cabinet on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath at Lok Bhavan in Srinagar. This move brings the total Cabinet strength to nine. Meanwhile, the Congress party decided to stay away from the government.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah-led government, on Tuesday (October 27, 2026), inducted four new faces into the Council of Ministers, including an old hand from Srinagar, Ali Muhammad Sagar, and a female face Shameema Firdous, taking the total strength of Cabinet to nine in the Union Territory.
J&K Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Sagar, Ms. Firdous, Mir Saifullah, and Altaf Kaloo at Lok Bhavan in Srinagar. One Minister, Satish Sharma, an Independent candidate from the Jammu province, was dropped from the present Cabinet. Ruling National Conference (NC) ally Congress has decided to stay away “till Statehood is restored”.
Mr. Sagar (68), who represents the Khanyar constituency, is an old hand in the NC and has served as a Minister in the past too. Mr. Sagar and his son Salman Sagar, managed to win two seats from Srinagar district in the 2024 elections.
Ms. Firdous, who represents Srinagar’s Habba Kadal constituency, is the second female Minister in the Cabinet after Sakina Itoo from south Kashmir’s Kulgam. The NC won seven out of eight seats from Srinagar district in the 2024 Assembly elections.
The induction of Mr. Kaloo gives additional representation to south Kashmir, while Mr. Saifullah adds to the representation of north Kashmir, a stronghold of the party.
Under Section 53 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the Council of Ministers in the UT cannot exceed 10% of the 90-member Assembly. For the past two years, CM Abdullah had only five Ministers in the Cabinet.