“Show me one Muslim minister at the Centre, in BJP-ruled states”: Deputy CM of J&K

J&K Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary. File | Photo credit: Imran Nissar

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a meme war on the ruling National Conference (NC) over the recent cabinet expansion and protests within the party, J&K Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary said on Thursday (Oct 29, 2026) that the BJP, “which has no Muslim minister at the Center or the NC, has no right to criticize BJP-ruled states”.

The official BJP Instagram account with 338k followers in J&K released a series of memes showing J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah fighting his own MLAs like Mubarak Gul and Abdul Majeed Bhat Larmi by editing footage from the gory Bobby Deol starrer ‘Animal’. In another meme, the BJP adapted characters from the comedy-drama ‘Panchayat’ to show the heartburn the cabinet expansion has caused NC legislators and said, “The end of NC begins now”.

Despite BJP spokesperson Sunil Sethi’s criticism and description of the “National Conference as a Muslim Conference” over the ouster of a Hindu minister, Deputy CM Choudhary asked the BJP to identify one Muslim minister in the BJP cabinet.

“Is there any Muslim who is a minister at the Center or in BJP-ruled states in the country. As for ‘Sab Ka Sath, Sab Ka Vikas’, why is there no Muslim minister in BJP?. The party spokesperson has no right index finger in NC,” Mr Choudhary said.

The J&K Deputy CM also protested the BJP’s criticism of the absence of Hindu representation in Omar Abdullah’s cabinet. “I am a Jat from Rajouri’s Nowshera. Am I not Hindu or Sanathani? Whatever I have become is because of Maa Vaishno and Maa Durga. BJP needs to clarify whether Jatts qualify as Hindus or not. It should also tell us which ‘baradaris’ are Hindus in J&K,” said Mr.

J&K witnessed a cabinet expansion on October 27 with four new faces joining Omar Abdullah’s cabinet. One minister, Satish Sharma from Jammu, was recalled to accommodate more faces from the Kashmir Valley, where the party swept the 2024 assembly elections, winning 42 seats in the 90-member assembly.

Published – 30 Oct 2026 01:50 IST