There will be no rotation of chief ministership in the Congress-National Conference coalition Government in Jammu & Kashmir, unlike the previous Congress-PDP set-up which provided for rotation of the top post after three years.

Ending suspense over modalities of the coalition, NC chief Omar Abdullah declared on Friday that there was no precondition put up by the Congress and there would be no rotation of chief ministership. He will take oath as CM on January 5 and the swearing-in ceremony will be attended by Congress president Sonia Gandhi

“The Congress president was kind enough to understand the logic of not having a three-year rotation. It would be against the interest of the state as it was damaging, led to uncertainty, inconsistency and confusion. It was not a sticking point,” Abdullah told reporters after a meeting with senior Congress leaders including Pranab Mukherjee, Ahmed Patel, A K Antony, Prithviraj Chavan, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Saifuddin Soz.

At the meeting, the Congress and the NCP finalised the portfolios. The Congress is yet to finalise the name of the Deputy CM, although Sham Lal Sharma and Raman Bhalla are said to be frontrunners for the post. Congress sources said all ministers and senior leaders from Jammu region had lost election, which made it difficult for the central leadership to zero in on one name. Asked about it, Abdullah said there would be a Deputy CM from the Congress from Jammu region but it was an “internal matter” of the Congress to decide the name.

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