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

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, wikisource:Constitution of India/Part V#Article 80, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legisl ...

between 2014 to 2021. He also served as the Chief Minister of erstwhile state of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

from 2005 to 2008. On 26 September 2022, Azad announced his own political party as

Democratic Azad Party The Democratic Progressive Azad Party ( DPAP) formerly Democratic Azad Party is an Indian political party formed by Ghulam Nabi Azad on 26 September 2022 in Jammu and Kashmir. The party's top three agendas in Jammu and Kashmir are restoration of ...

. He is the chief patron cum founder of

. Azad served as

Minister of Health and Family Welfare The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is an Indian government ministry charged with health policy in India. It is also responsible for all government programs relating to family planning in India. The Minister of Health and Family Welfare h ...

. He has served as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in the

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indi ...

government until 27 October 2005, when he was appointed as 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 but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

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 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 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished servi ...

, 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

Doda district Doda is a district in the eastern part of Jammu Division in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The district consists of 18 tehsils viz. Thathri, Bhaderwah, Doda, Mohalla, Bhagwa, Assar, Bhalla, Gundna, Marmat, Kahara, Ga ...

. 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 the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...

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

Zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

degree from the

University of Kashmir The University of Kashmir (U-K, UoK), informally known as Kashmir University (KU), is a collegiate public state university located on the western side of Dal Lake in the city of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, India which was established in 1 ...

, 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 as the President of the All-India Youth Congress. After being elected to the

Seventh Lok Sabha List of Members of the 7th Lok Sabha, (18 January 1980 – 31 December 1984) elected December 1979 – January 1980. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India nine sitting members from Rajya Sabha were el ...

from Maharashtra's

Washim (Lok Sabha constituency) Washim Lok Sabha constituency was a Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituency in Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupyi ...

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 The 8th Lok Sabha ran from 31 December 1984 to 27 November 1989. Politicians were elected in December 1984, taking office by the end of the month. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the bicameral Parliament of India. 9 s ...

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

Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad assumes charge of the Union Minister for Urban Development in New Delhi on May 25, 2004 (Tuesday

In the second United Progressive Alliance Government, led by Dr.

, Mr. Azad, was sworn in as the Health Minister of India. He was elected to Rajya Sabha for fourth term and third term 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 National Democratic Alliance (NDA) () is a centre-right to right-wing and conservative Indian big tent political alliance led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was founded in 1998 and currently controls the government of India ...

won a majority in the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-pas ...

and formed the Union government, Azad was appointed as 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 26th 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 Rahul Gandhi ( ; born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician and a member of the Indian Parliament, representing the constituency of Wayanad, Kerala in the 17th Lok Sabha. A member of the Indian National Congress, he served as the president of ...

as a reason.

New political 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

. The flag of the Democratic Azad Party has three colours: mustard, white, and blue.

Personal life

Azad married Shameem 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 Ram Nath Kovind (; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician who served as the 14th President of India from 2017 to 2022. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the second person after K. R. Narayanan, from the Dalit community ...

. *

Outstanding Parliamentarian Award The Outstanding Parliamentarian Award is an award given by the Indian Parliamentary Group to an outstanding sitting Member of the Indian Parliament for overall contribution in the Indian Parliament. It was instituted in 1995 by Shivraj Patil, w ...

2015, at Parliament House, New Delhi on August 1, 2018

References

External links

at Rajyasabha.nic.in , - , - , - {{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 people 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