Farooq Abdullah | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Abdullah inNew Delhi, 2011 | |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 16 April 2017 – 4 June 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Tariq Hameed Karra |
| Succeeded by | Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi |
| Constituency | Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir |
| In office 13 May 2009 – 12 May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Omar Abdullah |
| Succeeded by | Tariq Hameed Karra |
| Constituency | Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir |
| In office 6 January 1980 – 5 January 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Begum Akbar Jehan Abdullah |
| Succeeded by | Abdul Rashid Kabuli |
| Constituency | Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir |
| 4thChief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir | |
| In office 9 October 1996 – 18 October 2002 | |
| Governor | K. V. Krishna Rao Girish Chandra Saxena |
| Preceded by | President's rule |
| Succeeded by | Mufti Mohammad Sayeed |
| In office 7 November 1986 – 18 January 1990 | |
| Governor | Jagmohan Malhotra K. V. Krishna Rao |
| Preceded by | Governor's rule |
| Succeeded by | Governor's rule |
| In office 8 September 1982 – 2 July 1984 | |
| Governor | Braj Kumar Nehru Jagmohan Malhotra |
| Preceded by | Sheikh Abdullah |
| Succeeded by | Ghulam Mohammad Shah |
| Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India | |
| In office 28 May 2009 – 26 May 2014 | |
| Prime Minister | Manmohan Singh |
| Preceded by | Vilas Muttemwar |
| Succeeded by | Piyush Goyal |
| President ofJammu & Kashmir National Conference | |
| Assumed office 2009 | |
| Vice President | Omar Abdullah |
| Preceded by | Omar Abdullah |
| In office 1981 – 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Sheikh Abdullah |
| Succeeded by | Omar Abdullah |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 30 November 2002 – 16 May 2009 | |
| Constituency | Jammu and Kashmir |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1937-10-21)21 October 1937 (age 88) |
| Political party | Jammu & Kashmir National Conference |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | Sheikh Mustafa Kamal (brother) |
| Children |
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| Parents | |
| Residences | |
| Alma mater | Tyndale Biscoe School Sawai Man Singh Medical College |
| Occupation | Politician |
Farooq Abdullah (born 21 October 1937) is an Indian politician who serves as current president of theJammu & Kashmir National Conference. He has served as thechief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on several occasions since 1982 till 2002, and as the union minister for New and Renewable Energy between 2009 and 2014. His fatherSheikh Abdullah was the 1st elected chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, while his sonOmar Abdullah is the current chief minister.
Farooq Abdullah was born to the veteran statesman and National Conference leaderSheikh Abdullah andBegum Akbar Jehan Abdullah. He studied atTyndale Biscoe School, and subsequently received hisMBBS degree fromSMS Medical College, Jaipur. He subsequently travelled to the UK to practice medicine.[2]
He is married to Molly, a nurse of British origin. They have a son, Omar, and three daughters, Safia, Hinna, and Sara. Their sonOmar Abdullah is also involved in state and national politics, and is thechief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Sara was married toCongress leaderSachin Pilot, but they divorced in late 2023.[3]
At that time his fatherSheikh Abdullah was serving as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Farooq Abdullah was elected to the Lok Sabha unopposed as a founding party member of theJammu and Kashmir National Conference[4] fromSrinagarLok Sabha constituency in the1980 General Election.
Abdullah was a novice in the political arena of Jammu and Kashmir when he was appointed president of theNational Conference in August 1981. His main qualification was that he was the son of Sheikh Abdullah. After his father's death in 1982, Farooq Abdullah became the chief minister of the state. In 1984, a faction of the National conference led by his brother-in-lawGhulam Mohammad Shah broke away, leading to the collapse of his government and his dismissal. Shah subsequently became the Chief Minister with the support of the Congress.
In 1986, G.M. Shah's government was dismissed after the communal1986 Kashmir riots in South Kashmir, and a new National Conference–Congress government was sworn in with Abdullah as the chief minister, after theRajiv-Farooq accord.
Anew election was held in 1987 and the National Conference–Congress alliance won the election amid allegations of fraud and widespread election rigging by the National Conference. This period saw a rise in militancy in the state, with the return of trained militants in J&K and incidents that included thekidnapping of the daughter of the Home MinisterMufti Mohammad Sayeed. The period also witnessed theexodus of Kashmiri Pandits from theKashmir Valley. Subsequently, Farooq Abdullah resigned in protest afterJagmohan was appointed the governor, and the state's assembly was dismissed.[5][6]He subsequently moved to theUnited Kingdom.[7]
After returning to India, and winning theLegislative Assembly elections in 1996, Abdullah was once again sworn in as chief minister of the state, his fifth time. His government lasted for a full six-year term. In 1999, the National Conference joined theAtal Bihari Vajpayee ledNational Democratic Alliance, and his son Omar Abdullah was subsequently appointed a union minister of state forExternal Affairs.
In the 2002Legislative Assembly elections, Omar Abdullah was chosen to lead the National Conference, while Farooq Abdullah intended to continue his political career at the Central level. The National Conference lost the election and a coalition government headed byMufti Mohammad Sayeed took office. On that year Former Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee in2002 promised to make Abdullah the vice-president, but later reneged on his promise because of Abdul Kalam's nomination to President and Krishan Kant's disagree.[8]
Farooq Abdullah was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2002 from Jammu and Kashmir and re-elected in 2009. He resigned from the Rajya Sabha in May 2009 and won a seat in the Lok Sabha fromSrinagar.[9] Abdullah joined theUnited Progressive Alliance government as aCabinet Minister of New and Renewable Energy.
Abdullah contested theSrinagar Lok Sabha seat again in the2014 General Election, but was defeated by the People's Democratic Party candidateTariq Hameed Karra. In 2017, Tariq Hameed Karra resigned from the position, leading to aby-election for the Srinagar parliamentary seat. Abdullah got 48,555 votes and defeated PDP candidate Nazir Ahmed Khan by 10,700 votes.[10]
On 16 September 2019, Abdullah became the first mainstream politician to be detained under thePublic Safety Act. Prior to this, Abdullah was under house arrest since the scrapping ofArticle 370 of the Constitution of India.[11] He was released from house detention under the PSA after seven and a half months on 13 March 2020.[12]
In 2022, before the election of the President of India, Mamata Bannerjee along with several other opposition leaders had proposed Abdullah's name as the Opposition's candidate. But Abdullah declined the offer stating that he wanted to remain in active politics for more years and concentrated on the Kashmir Union Territory issue.[13]
After his sonOmar Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah made his presence in the Supreme court of India in relation to Article 370 hearing.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of theJammu & Kashmir National Conference 1981–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of theJammu & Kashmir National Conference 2009–present | Incumbent |
| Lok Sabha | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSrinagar 1980–1982 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSrinagar 2009–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSrinagar 2017–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir 1982–1984 | Succeeded by |
| Vacant | Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir 1986–1990 | |
| Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir 1996–2002 | Vacant Title next held by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed | |
| Preceded by | Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy 2009–2014 | Succeeded by |
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| New and Renewable Energy | |||||||||||||
| Ministry of Coal | |||||||||||||
| Petroleum and Natural Gas |
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| Department of Atomic Energy |
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| International | |
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| National | |
