Ghulam Nabi Azad (born 7 March 1949) is an Indian politician who served as Leader of Opposition in

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

between 2014 and 2021. He also served as the Chief Minister of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir from 2005 to 2008. On 26 September 2022, Azad announced his own political party as Democratic Progressive Azad Party. He is the chief patron cum founder of Democratic Progressive Azad Party. Azad served as Minister of Health and Family Welfare. He has served as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in the

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

government until 27 October 2005, when he was appointed the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. On 26 August 2022, Azad resigned from

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

and mulled creating a new party at the national level. He also led the party successfully in the 2002 Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir. He was bestowed with the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

, India's third highest civilian award, in 2022 by the Indian Government in the field of Public Affairs.

Early life

Ghulam Nabi Azad was born in a village named Soti of Gandoh tehsil ( Bhalessa) in the formerly princely state of Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district. His parents were Rahamatullah Batt and Basa Begum. He attended the local school in his village. Later for higher studies he moved to

Jammu Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute ...

and received his Bachelor's of Science degree from G.G.M. Science College. Furthermore, he also received a Master's in

Zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

degree from the University of Kashmir, Srinagar in 1972.Ghulam Nabi Azad Biography
Elections.in. Retrieved 25 April 2017.

Political career

Azad started his career soon after working as the secretary for the Block Congress Committee in Bhalessa 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. After being elected to the Seventh Lok Sabha from Maharashtra's

Washim (Lok Sabha constituency) Washim was a Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra state in western India from 1977 (6th Lok Sabha) till 2004 elections (14th Lok Sabha). It was established before the 1977 Lok Sabha elections following the abolition of the Khamgaon Lok Sabha co ...

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 the Eighth Lok Sabha in 1984 and was a member (1990 - 1996) from Maharashtra in

. 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. The People'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.

Union government

In the

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

United Progressive Alliance Government, led by

, 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. 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. 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.

Leader of Opposition

In June 2014, after the

National Democratic Alliance The National Democratic Alliance (NDA; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrīya Lokatāntrik Gaṭhabandhan'') is an Indian big tent Political group, multi-party political alliance, led by the country's biggest political party, the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

won a majority in the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

and formed the Union government, Azad was appointed the leader of opposition in the

, where Congress still held the majority. 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.

Resignation from INC

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. In his resignation letter, he cited destruction of consultative process by Rahul Gandhi as a reason.

Democratic Progressive Azad Party

On 4 September 2022, Azad announced the formation of a new political party after resigning from

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir will decide the name and the flag for the new party. On 26 September 2022, Azad announced the name of his new party as Democratic Progressive Azad Party. The flag of the Democratic Azad Party has three colours: mustard, white, and blue.

Personal life

Azad married Shameema Dev Azad, a well known Kashmiri singer, in 1980, and they have a son Saddam Nabi Azad and a daughter Sofiya Nabi Azad.

Positions held

Awards

*In March 2022, Ghulam Nabi Azad received

from President Ram Nath Kovind. * Outstanding Parliamentarian Award 2015, at

Parliament House, New Delhi Parliament House (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Saṁsada Bhavana'') in New Delhi is the seat of the Parliament of India. It houses the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, which are Lower house, lower and upper houses respectively in India's Bicameralism, bica ...

on 1 August 2018

References

External links

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Azad, Ghulam Nabi 1949 births India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1984–1989 Chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Health ministers of India Civil aviation ministers of India 20th-century Indian Muslims 21st-century Indian Muslims Indian National Congress politicians from Jammu and Kashmir Indian Youth Congress Presidents Members of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council Kashmiri politicians People from Doda district Living people Jammu and Kashmir MLAs 2002–2008 Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra Members of the Cabinet of India People from Washim district Leaders of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Azad Gulab Nabi Rajya Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir University of Kashmir alumni University of Jammu alumni Members of the National Cadet Corps (India) People from Bhaderwah Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs Jammu and Kashmir MLAs 2008–2014 Presidents of Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee