Basharat, Imran resign as allocation of portfolios triggers typhoon in Mehbooba’s Govt

One Minister upset over portfolio, another senses ‘conspiracy within’, writes letter to CM

Altaf Bukhari inducted into Cabinet

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
JAMMU: Induction of the PDP heavyweight Syed Altaf Bukhari back into Cabinet after his virtual suspension for over ten months, followed by allocation of new portfolios among a few Ministers on Friday triggered a major crisis in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as two Cabinet Ministers—Syed Basharat Bukhari and Imran Raza Ansari—tendered their resignation and some MLAs stayed away from the swearing-in ceremony.
Government chose to remain mute but well-placed political and bureaucratic sources maintained that Basharat sent a written and signed communication to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti complaining to her that the change of his portfolio from the prestigious Revenue to the insignificant Horticulture was the culmination of a protracted “conspiracy” against him within the party. He is said to have asserted that his continuation in the Council of Ministers in the current circumstances would be very difficult and he, as such, should be relieved of his responsibility as a Minister.
Sources confirmed that Basharat’s letter had reached the Chief Minister and she would deal with it as per her own wisdom and judgment.
Even as many of the politicians and bureaucrats insisted that Basharat resigned for losing a prestigious portfolio and getting an insignificant one, participants of the swearing-in ceremony told STATE TIMES that the Minister was incensed and return in a huff as the security staff at Raj Bhawan entrance did not allow in four of his guests who did not carry any invite for the ceremony. He was returning in protest along with PDP’s Rajya Sabha member Fayaz Ahmad Mir.
Dozens of attempts to speak to Basharat failed as he did not respond to phone calls from this correspondent. His phone was found continuously “busy”. However, a television network and a Srinagar-based news agency claimed to have reached out to the Minister. They claimed that the Minister confirmed his resignation and disclosed that he had written and sent a letter to Chief Minister. The letter, it was said, detailed a chain of the conspiracies against the Minister.
In a quick succession, reports said that Minister of Youth Services and Sports Imran Raza Ansari too resigned from the Cabinet. Even as there was no official confirmation to it, Ansari’s family sources told STATE TIMES that he had tendered his resignation around 5.00 pm. However, sources in CM’s bureaucratic and security detail insisted that Ansari’s resignation had not reached Mehbooba Mufti till late on Friday evening.
Since his induction into the Cabinet, first by late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in March 2015 and later by Ms Mufti in April 2016, Ansari is known to have been disappointed over allocation of an “insignificant portfolio”. Some political sources insist that he had been lately assured that Chief Minister would redress his grievance and allot an important portfolio (CAPD) to him on the day of Altaf Bukhari’s induction. He was reportedly upset when the allocation of portfolio was made public. However, Ansari was not reachable for confirmation.
Significantly, a number of the PDP’s “angry and disappointed” MLAs were conspicuously absent at the swearing-in ceremony. They included MLA Chadoura Javed Mustafa Mir, MLA Noorabad Abdul Majid Paddar and MLA Sonwar Mohammad Ashraf Mir who were Ministers in Mufti’s Council of Ministers but were, along with Altaf Bukhari, not taken by Mehbooba last year. Ashraf Mir was reportedly in Mumbai or Bengaluru. PDP’s Kokernag MLA Abdul Rahim Rather was also absent.
Reports said that Rather and Paddar had conveyed their disappointment and displeasure to Chief Minister while complaining that “all the defeated candidates” had been rehabilitated and given status of a Minister or Minister of State but the winners had been exposed to embarrassment within their respective constituencies.
The crisis in the PDP has sprouted days before Ms Mufti is leaving for Umrah in Saudi Arabia with a heavy family entourage including her mother, sister and other relatives. One of the bureaucrats of her Government returned on Friday after making necessary