PM Narendra Modi ‘to include’ Mehbooba Mufti in council of ministers

New Delhi/Srinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to expand his council of ministers to include a key leader from Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti, sources said, as he looks to win the support of allies to push economic reforms through parliament.

Mehbooba Mufti is the daughter of Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which governs in the state alongside the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will be inducted into the 65-member council, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Modi is expected to announce the changes — his second reshuffle of the executive body since he stormed to power last May — before he departs for an overseas trip on April 8, the sources said.

The BJP made history in February when it formed a surprise coalition in Jammu & Kashmir with the PDP, the first time the party has had a role in governing the Muslim-majority state.

The PDP's decision last month to release from prison a leading separatist — Masarat Alam — angered opposition politicians and embarrassed Modi just as he is struggling to get key pieces of his economic reform agenda passed in Parliament.

That includes a controversial bill to change land acquisition rules, which has been held up in the Rajya Sabha where Modi's party lacks a majority. Unlike the BJP, the PDP supports autonomy for the state.

Among several other expected changes to the council, Modi will also induct a representative from the Shiv Sena, the BJP's coalition partner in Maharashtra, one of the sources said.