The ruling National Conference-led government is likely to go for a cabinet reshuffle and expansion in January 2026, sources disclosed.
Sources told news agency that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah dropped broad hints of a cabinet expansion/ reshuffle during the two-day Central Working Committee meeting held in Srinagar on November 27 and 28.
“During the meeting, the CM told party colleagues that the party president will assess the performance of the council of ministers over the next one-and-a-half months and then accordingly decide whom to retain and whom to drop,” sources said.
During the CWC meeting, several MLAs pushed for an expansion of the cabinet. They argued that a larger council of ministers would help improve the visibility and outreach of the government.
Currently, three cabinet slots are vacant in Jammu and Kashmir, as the maximum strength of the council of ministers is capped at 10 percent of the total number of members in the Legislative Assembly. In the 90-member House, the maximum limit of the council of ministers is restricted to nine. At present, the council comprises six members - the Chief Minister and five cabinet ministers.
Even if five nominated seats are taken into account, the strength of the council of ministers cannot exceed nine, as 0.5 is treated as no increase, while fractions above 0.5 are rounded up to one—