Srinagar, Oct 27: Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Chaudhury on Tuesday dismissed speculation over alleged resentment within the National Conference (NC) following the cabinet expansion.
“There is no resentment. There is nothing unusual about this. It is normal,” Chaudhury told reporters.
He said there had been repeated questions about the delay in expanding the cabinet, but the narrative had changed after the exercise was completed.
“When the cabinet expansion was not taking place, everyone was asking every day when it would happen. Now that it has happened and someone has not been accommodated, some people are raising a new issue,” he said.
Chaudhury urged allowing the newly inducted ministers to focus on governance, arguing that the expansion would help distribute the workload within the government.
“If you want the people of J&K to benefit, allow the new ministers and this government to work,” he said.
“You used to say that five ministers were overburdened. Now four more ministers have been inducted, but you must understand that people cannot deliver unless you allow them to work,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.
Drawing a comparison with differences within families, he said disagreements were normal and should not be unnecessarily amplified in public.
“As far as the family is concerned, do things not go up and down in your own families? Are there not tensions and differences between family members? But do you go outside and beat the drums about them?” Chaudhury said. “Please do not try to turn this into a spectacle. My appeal is that you healthily take this.”
Chaudhury also questioning the BJP over its own decisions on cabinet expansion, arguing that similar scrutiny should be applied to other political parties.
