Srinagar, Oct 27: National Conference (NC) MLA Abdul Majeed Larmi on Tuesday expressed disappointment over being left out of the Omar Abdullah-led government’s cabinet expansion, saying he had been among the probable candidates for a ministerial berth until Monday evening.
“My heart is broken (Mera dil toot gaya),” the Anantnag West legislator told reporters after the swearing-in ceremony, according to the news agency Kashmir News Observer (KNO).
Claiming that he deserved a place in the cabinet, Larmi said his exclusion had hurt him, even as he maintained that he respected the party leadership’s decision.
“I was deserving. I say it twice, I was deserving,” he said.
Larmi said he was deeply disappointed by the decision, adding that party workers and legislators also had feelings that could be hurt.
“We are human beings; we have a heart too. Our heart is sad, there is no doubt about that. I may speak to you like this, but my heart is burning from inside,” he said.
Asked whether he had expected to be inducted into the cabinet, Larmi said his name had figured on the list of probable ministers until Monday evening.
Despite expressing his displeasure, the NC legislator reaffirmed his allegiance to the party and said he would continue to stand by its leadership.
“I am a soldier of the party. I can go anywhere for the party,” he said.
Larmi was among the legislators left out of Tuesday’s cabinet expansion, in which four NC MLAs—Ali Mohammad Sagar, Shamima Firdous, Mir Saifullah and Altaf Ahmad Kaloo—were inducted as ministers after Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy at Lok Bhawan in Srinagar.
