According to sources, the National Conference had offered one cabinet berth to the Congress, but the party expressed dissatisfaction with this single ministerial position, insisting on two instead. However, since only nine ministers, including the Chief Minister, can be sworn in for a 90-member Assembly in the J&K Union Territory, the National Conference was reluctant to extend more than one cabinet berth.Securing six seats in the 90-member J&K Assembly marks the Congress’s worst performance, down from 12 seats in the 2014 Assembly polls. To appease the Congress, the National Conference has also offered one of the four vacant Rajya Sabha seats in J&K.The J&K Congress chief recently stated that the restoration of statehood and land rights for the people of Jammu and Kashmir is more important than ministerial berths.Amid reports of discord within the NC-Congress alliance following Congress’s decision not to join the coalition government, National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah claimed that all is well in the alliance.“Why would there be issues within the NC-Congress alliance? If there were, Kharge, Rahul, and other senior Congress leaders would not be coming here,” Omar responded when asked about the state of the alliance.Omar asserted that the presence of senior Congress leaders demonstrates the strength of the alliance, emphasizing, “We will work for the people.”
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