As he made known his reservations about the Animal Husbandry and Science and Technology Ministries allocated to him, People’s Conference leader and BJP ally Sajad Lone is likely to be re-allocated portfolios.
“Sajad [Lone] will most likely be the new Forest Minister. The Ministry is with the BJP, and by giving it to Mr. Lone, it will remain with us,” a senior BJP leader in Jammu told The Hindu . “He has been unhappy over his portfolio, and the BJP believes him to be an important and good ally; that is why the party has taken the decision.”
BJP leader Bali Bhagat now holds the Ministries of Social Welfare, Forest, Ecology and Environment.
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Five other Ministers from the BJP were given the important Ministries of Power, Urban Development, Industries and Commerce, Health, Forests, and Public Health Engineering.
Though Mr. Lone told presspersons that he was not unhappy with the Ministries he had been given, sources in his People’s Conference said both the party and Mr. Lone himself considered the Ministries “insignificant” and wanted a more significant portfolio. The People’s Conference won two seats from Kupwara and Handwara.