Ghulam Nabi Azad | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2014 | |
| Leader of the Opposition inRajya Sabha | |
| In office 8 June 2014 (2014-06-08) – 15 February 2021 (2021-02-15)[1] | |
| Chairman | Mohammad Hamid Ansari Venkaiah Naidu |
| Deputy Leader | Anand Sharma |
| Preceded by | Arun Jaitley |
| Succeeded by | Mallikarjun Kharge |
| Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare | |
| In office 22 May 2009 (2009-05-22) – 26 May 2014 (2014-05-26) | |
| Prime Minister | Manmohan Singh |
| Preceded by | Anbumani Ramadoss |
| Succeeded by | Harsh Vardhan |
| 7thChief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir | |
| In office 2 November 2005 (2005-11-02) – 11 July 2008 (2008-07-11) | |
| Governor | Srinivas Kumar Sinha Narinder Nath Vohra |
| Preceded by | Mufti Mohammad Sayeed |
| Succeeded by | Omar Abdullah |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 11 February 2009 (2009-02-11) – 15 February 2021 (2021-02-15) | |
| Preceded by | Saifuddin Soz |
| Succeeded by | Gurvinder Singh Oberi |
| Constituency | Jammu and Kashmir(state) |
| In office 30 November 1996 (1996-11-30) – 29 January 2006 (2006-01-29) | |
| Constituency | Jammu and Kashmir |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 3 April 1990 – 2 April 1996 | |
| In office 1980–1989 | |
| Preceded by | Vasantrao Naik |
| Succeeded by | Anantrao Vithhalrao Deshmukh |
| Constituency | Washim, Maharashtra |
| Chairperson ofDemocratic Progressive Azad Party | |
| Assumed office 26 September 2022 | |
| Preceded by | position established |
| Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs | |
| In office 23 May 2004 – 1 November 2005 | |
| Prime Minister | Manmohan Singh |
| Preceded by | Sushma Swaraj |
| Succeeded by | Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi |
| In office 18 January 1996 – 16 May 1996 | |
| Prime Minister | P. V. Narasimha Rao |
| Preceded by | Vidya Charan Shukla |
| Succeeded by | Pramod Mahajan |
| In office 21 June 1991 – 18 January 1993 | |
| Prime Minister | P. V. Narasimha Rao |
| Preceded by | Satya Prakash Malaviya |
| Succeeded by | Vidya Charan Shukla |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ghulam Nabi Bhatt (1949-03-07)7 March 1949 (age 76) |
| Political party | Democratic Progressive Azad Party |
| Other political affiliations | Indian National Congress (1973–2022) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Saddam Nabi Azad (son)[2] Sofiya Nabi Azad (daughter)[3] |
| Alma mater | |
| Awards | Padma Bhushan (2022) |
Ghulam Nabi Azad (born 7 March 1949) is an Indian politician who served as Leader of Opposition inRajya Sabha between 2014 and 2021. He also served as the Chief Minister of erstwhile state ofJammu and Kashmir from 2005 to 2008. On 26 September 2022, Azad announced his own political party asDemocratic Progressive Azad Party. He is the chief patron cum founder of Democratic Progressive Azad Party.
Azad served asMinister of Health and Family Welfare.[4] He has served as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in theManmohan Singh government until 27 October 2005, when he was appointed theChief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. On 26 August 2022, Azad resigned fromIndian National Congress and mulled creating a new party at the national level.[5]
He also led the party successfully in the2002 Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir. He was bestowed with thePadma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, in 2022 by the Indian Government in the field of Public Affairs.[6]
He was a member of Committee constituted by the Government of India in September 2023 to suggest changes to the constitution for simultaneous polls in the country.[7]
Ghulam Nabi Azad was born in a village named Soti ofGandoh tehsil (Bhalessa) in the formerly princely state ofJammu and Kashmir'sDoda district. His parents were Rahamatullah Batt and Basa Begum. He attended the local school in his village. Later for higher studies he moved toJammu and received his Bachelor's of Science degree fromG.G.M. Science College.[8][9][10] Furthermore, he also received a Master's inZoology degree from theUniversity of Kashmir, Srinagar in 1972.[11]
Azad started his career soon after working as the secretary for the Block Congress Committee inBhalessa in 1973. Two years later, he was nominated as the President of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Youth Congress. In 1980, he was appointed the President of the All-India Youth Congress.[11]
After being elected to theSeventh Lok Sabha from Maharashtra'sWashim (Lok Sabha constituency) in 1980, Azad entered into the Central government as Deputy Minister in charge of Law, Justice and Company Affairs Ministry in 1982.
Subsequently, he was elected to theEighth Lok Sabha in 1984 and was a member (1990 - 1996) from Maharashtra inRajya Sabha.[12] During Rao's government, Azad took charge of Parliamentary Affairs and Civil Aviation ministries. He was subsequently elected to Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir during the term of 30 November 1996 to 29 November 2002 and 30 November 2002 to 29 November 2008, but resigned on 29 April 2006 as he became Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on 2 November 2005.[12]
ThePeople's Democratic Party, a coalition partner of the Indian National Congress in Jammu and Kashmir, withdrew its support for Azad's government, and rather than attempt to sustain his government by requesting a vote of confidence, Azad resigned on 7 July 2008, and later left office on 11 July 2008.[13]
In thesecond United Progressive Alliance Government, led byManmohan Singh, Azad was sworn in as the Health Minister of India. He was elected to Rajya Sabha for the fourth and fifth terms from Jammu and Kashmir during the term of 30 November 1996 to 29 November 2002.[12] He vowed to expand the National Rural Health Mission, which has mobilized half a million health workers, all across India, and later his ministry also launched a National Urban Health Mission, to serve the slum dwelling urban poor.[14][15]
He has suggested a late marriage age of between 25 and 30 for population control, and has said that lack of electricity & thereby absence of TV entertainment in rural areas will cause people to produce more children.[16]
In June 2014, after theNational Democratic Alliance won a majority in theLok Sabha and formed the Union government, Azad was appointed the leader of opposition in theRajya Sabha, where Congress still held the majority.[17]
In 2015, Azad got re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir, despite the PDP-BJP alliance holding a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly.[18]
In August 2022, Azad resigned from the post of chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress campaign committee hours after his appointment. Sonia Gandhi accepted the resignation from Azad. On 26 August 2022, he resigned from all positions including primary membership of the party.[19][20][21] In his resignation letter, he cited destruction of consultative process byRahul Gandhi as a reason.[22]
On 4 September 2022, Azad announced the formation of a new political party after resigning fromIndian National Congress. He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir will decide the name and the flag for the new party.[23]
On 26 September 2022, Azad announced the name of his new party asDemocratic Progressive Azad Party. The flag of the Democratic Azad Party has three colours: mustard, white, and blue.[24]
Azad marriedShameema Dev Azad, a well known Kashmiri singer, in 1980, and they have a son Saddam Nabi Azad and a daughter Sofiya Nabi Azad.[25][26][27][28]
| Year | Description |
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| 1980 - 1984 | Elected to7th Lok Sabha
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| 1984 - 1989 | Elected to8th Lok Sabha
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| 1991 - 1996 | Elected toRajya Sabha From Maharashtra
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| 1996 - 2002 | Elected toRajya Sabha From Jammu and Kashmir |
| 2002 - 2006 | Elected toRajya Sabha From Jammu and Kashmir
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Media related toGhulam Nabi Azad at Wikimedia Commons| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir 2005 – 2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Health and Family Welfare 2009 – 2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha 2014 – 2021 | Succeeded by |
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