Omar after taking oath as chief minister at the General Zorawar Singh Auditorium in Jammu on Monday. (AFP)

Srinagar, Jan. 5: For the first time, a family saw a third successive generation become head of an Indian state today, but Omar Abdullah’s coronation was somewhat tarnished with the swearing-in of tainted colleagues.

Two of the nine cabinet ministers who took oath with Jammu and Kashmir’s new chief minister are accused in sex and bribery scams, and a third has been politically controversial. None of them is from Omar’s party, the National Conference — they were all foisted on him by ally Congress.

Sources close to him said Omar — who became the state’s 10th chief minister and, at 38, its youngest ever — had hoped to start his new innings with “clean men” around him.

Three of the five Congress ministers — Tara Chand, Peerzada Sayeed and Shyam Lal — have a shadow hanging over them.

Chand, the deputy chief minister, was implicated by Congress MP Madan Lal Sharma in the Srinagar sex scandal, a racket involving sexual exploitation of young girls by ministers, lawmakers, bureaucrats and police officers.

Sharma had boasted at a public meeting that he had got Chand cleared in the controversy at the behest of party president Sonia Gandhi. The Congress promised to discipline Sharma but did not act.

Peerzada was forced to quit as education minister in January last year on corruption charges. He also had to resign as state Congress chief.

Former Independent MLA Shoaib Lone had accused Peerzada of taking a bribe of Rs 40,000 to grant a transfer to Lone’s sister, an employee in the education department.

Shoaib had made his allegations in the Assembly, and a major controversy broke out when he claimed his mother had received a threat call from a man close to Peerzada.

Shyam Lal had been one of the leaders of the Amarnath land agitation in Jammu, taking a stand contrary to his party’s line. He had told The Telegraph last week that his role in the agitation had won him the election when most of his party candidates had lost.

The agitators had blocked the supply of essentials to Kashmir, sparking a violent agitation in the Valley.

Other ministers who took oath included Taj Mohiuddin and Nawang Ringzin Jora of the Congress. The ministers from the National Conference are Abdul Rahim Rather, Mian Altaf Ahmad, Surjit Singh Salathia and Ali Mohammad Sagar. Altaf and Mohiuddin are Gujjars while Chand is a Scheduled Caste leader. Jora is the lone minister from Ladakh.

Dynasty feat

Sonia arrives for the swearing-in ceremony. (PTI)

In a nation ruled by three generations of a single family, the Nehru-Gandhis, no political dynasty had achieved the hat-trick in state politics before Omar was sworn in today.

His grandfather, Sheikh Abdullah, had been Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir (as the state’s head of government was then known) and later chief minister. His son Farooq became chief minister in 1982, 1987 and 1996. Omar began with a defeat in 2002 but won last month.