Attacks on JK-registered buses in neighbouring states can worsen situation: NC President

Cabinet expansion after LG’s return, says Farooq Abdullah

Srinagar: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday said the attacks on Jammu and Kashmir-registered buses in the neighbouring states can worsen the situation and should be stopped immediately.”Regarding the attack carried out on buses in Haryana, Omar (Abdullah) sahib has told the Chief Minister of Haryana that immediate action should be taken so that this does not happen (again). There are such miscreants who want to stir up a storm in the country,” Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a party convention in central Kashmir.

Abdullah said the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister has called for an immediate end to these attacks.According to him, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said this design and modus operandi must stop immediately, and the losses incurred should be compensated.”We hope he has also conveyed to the central government that attention is paid to this. Otherwise, conditions could worsen,” he added.On the expansion of the council of ministers in Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said it has been delayed as Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha was ill and out of the Union Territory.

Talks are going on from every direction, but nothing concrete has emerged yet, he said, adding that the cabinet expansion will take place after Sinha returns.National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday said the expansion of the Jammu and Kashmir Council of Ministers would take place once Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha returns.”The Lieutenant Governor was not well. He was sick. When the Lieutenant Governor comes, there will be an expansion of the government,” Abdullah told reporters in Budgam district.

The remarks came amid speculation over a long-awaited expansion of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s Council of Ministers, with the National Conference-led government completing two years in office on October 16.The government, which took office in October 2024, is yet to undertake a cabinet reshuffle, and the proposed expansion has remained a subject of political discussion.Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary recently dismissed speculation about resignations within the government, asserting that no minister had stepped down.

“No minister has tendered a resignation,” Choudhary had told reporters in Jammu.The Congress, the National Conference’s electoral ally, has also been at the centre of discussions surrounding the expansion. Although the NC had offered the Congress a cabinet berth, the party declined to join the government, choosing instead to extend support from outside until full statehood is restored to Jammu and Kashmir.Earlier, on October 7, Omar Abdullah had said that a decision on expanding his Council of Ministers would likely be taken shortly after consultations with his father and NC president, Farooq Abdullah.