Srinagar, Oct 24: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Saturday that the long-awaited reshuffle and expansion of his Council of Ministers will take place early next week, after he met Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and asked him to fix a date.
Omar met Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha at Lok Bhavan, Srinagar today.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting at Raj Bhavan, Omar said LG returned to Srinagar a few days ago and wanted to enquire about the Lieutenant Governor's health, as he had not been well.
Chief Minister said several issues including cabinet reshuffle needed to be discussed with him.
"I asked him for time for the (cabinet) expansion, and requested him to fix the time in the first 2-3 days of next week," he said.
He added that he would ask the Council of Ministers to make some changes and that the expansion would follow once the Lieutenant Governor fixed the time.
Omar said the list of ministers is ready and was finalised after consulting National Conference president Farooq Abdullah.
"There is no need to knock on Farooq sahib's door, my door or anyone else's door. The decision on who will become the minister has been made," he said.
He appealed to party colleagues to be patient. "It will be decided by God first and then by us," he said.
The CM also expressed dismay at the volume of messages and approaches he has received from aspirants.
"Please do not send me WhatsApp. I am getting so many WhatsApp messages and long letters," he said. He said some were sending their bio-data, adding, "Neither do I know their bio-data nor do I know them. The decision has been made."
Omar urged them to stop calling and visiting him.
"Please do not send me WhatsApp or call me. Please do not knock on my door. The reshuffle will take place in the next 2-3 days," he said.