Ghulam Nabi Azad

Ghulam Nabi Azad (born 7 March 1949) is an Indian politician of the Indian National Congress and was the Minister of Health and Family Welfare.[4] Presently, he serves as the Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha.[5] He has served as the Parliamentary Affairs Minister of India in the government of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh until 27 October 2005, when he was appointed as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He also led the party successfully in the 2002 Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir.

Ghulam Nabi Azad
Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha
Assumed office
8 June 2014
Preceded byArun Jaitley
Minister of Health and Family Welfare
In office
22 May 2009 – 26 May 2014
Prime MinisterManmohan Singh
Preceded byAnbumani Ramadoss
Succeeded byHarsh Vardhan
All India Congress Committee General Secretary for Haryana
Assumed office
23 January 2019
PresidentRahul Gandhi
7th Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
In office
2 November 2005 – 11 July 2008
Preceded byMufti Mohammad Sayeed
Succeeded byOmar Abdullah
Member of the Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Assumed office
11 February 2009
Preceded bySaifuddin Soz
ConstituencyJammu and Kashmir
In office
30 November 1996 – 29 April 2006
Personal details
Born
Ghulam Nabi Azad[1]

(1949-03-07) 7 March 1949
Bhalessa, Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir, Dominion of India (present-day Jammu and Kashmir, India)
Political partyIndian National Congress
Other political
affiliations		United Progressive Alliance (2004–present)
Spouse(s)
(
m. 1980)
ChildrenSaddam Nabi Azad[2]
Sofiya Nabi Azad[3]
Alma materGovernment Degree Colleges, Bhadarwah
G.G.M. Science College
University of Jammu
University of Kashmir

Early life

Ghulam Nabi Azad was born in a village called Soti of tehsil Gandoh (Bhalessa) in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district. His parents were Rahamatullah Bhatt and Basa Begum. He attended the local school in his village.Later for higher studies he moved to Jammu and received his bachelor's of Science degree from G.G.M. Science College.[6][7][8] Further more he also received a Master's in Zoology degree from the University of Kashmir, Srinagar in1972.[9]

Political career

Azad started his political 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.[9]

After being elected to the Seventh Lok Sabha from Maharashtra's Washim (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 the Eighth Lok Sabha in 1984 and was a member (1990 - 1996) from Maharashtra in Rajya Sabha.[10] 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.[10]

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.[11]

Union government
Ghulam Nabi Azad assumes charge of the Union Minister for Urban Development in New Delhi on 25 May 2004

In the second United Progressive Alliance Government, led by Dr. Manmohan Singh, Mr. Azad, was sworn in as the Health Minister of India. He was elected to Rajya Sabha for 4th term and 3rd term from Jammu and Kashmir during the term of 30 November 1996 to 29 November 2002.[10] 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.[12][13]

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.[14]

Leader of opposition

In June 2014, after the National Democratic Alliance won a majority in the Lok Sabha and formed the Union government, Azad was appointed as the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, where Congress still held the majority.[15]

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.[16]

Kidnapping of kin

Between June 1991 and January 1993 Azad was union parliamentary affair minister. His brother-in-law Tassaduq Dev was kidnapped by Al Umar Mujahideen in January 1992. Three jailed Islamic terrorists of Al Umar were released in exchange for Dev on 17 January.[17]

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.[18][19][20][21]

gollark: I mean, we still aren't consistently on IPv6.
gollark: Like the internet, and how it's based on a pile of messy hacks which barely hold together well enough to route traffic and everything.
gollark: A lot of social structures we have around probably came about through random chance, convenience or compromise rather than principled ground-up design.
gollark: But at most points I don't think most people went around getting to decide on exactly what their values were and building societies to best embody them.
gollark: It's probably some complex bidirectional thing.

References
  1. "Ghulam Nabi Azad named Leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha". India Today. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  2. "Ghulam Nabi Azad's Son To Wed DLF Supremo's Grand-daughter". 31 October 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  3. "My dad will do well, says Azad's daughter". Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  4. "Ghulam Nabi Azad Biography - About family, political life, awards won, history".
  5. "Ghulam Nabi Azad named Leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha". news.biharprabha.com. Indo-Asian News Service. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  6. "nocorruption.in". Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  7. "Election.in". Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  8. "rajyasabhampbiodata". Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  9. Ghulam Nabi Azad Biography, Elections.in. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  10. "Alphabetical List Of Former Members Of Rajya Sabha Since 1952". Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  11. "Kashmir chief's surprise resignation", CNN, 7 July 2008.
  12. "Azad's pat for NRHM schemes". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  13. Correspondent, Special. "NUHM launched to cover urban areas with over 50,000 population". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  14. "Azad says watch TV to check baby boom". Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  15. Ghulam Nabi Azad Made Leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha, Set to Become Leader of Opposition, NDTV News, 8 June 2014.
  16. Kashmir surprise: Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad relected to Rajya Sabha, The Indian Express, 8 February 2015.
  17. IANS (11 May 2019). "Terror Trail-V: The politics of abduction in Kashmir (IANS Exclusive)". Business Standard India. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  18. "Power girl". India Today. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  19. "Ghulam Nabi Azad's Son to Wed DLF Supremo's Grand-daughter". 31 October 2012.
  20. "Sofiya Azad loves talking - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  21. Correspondent, Special (11 March 2005). "My dad will do well, says Azad's daughter". The Hindu. p. 15. Retrieved 19 April 2017.

Further reading
Political offices
Preceded by
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed		 Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
2005–2008		 Succeeded by
Vacant (Governor's Rule)
Preceded by
Anbumani Ramadoss		 Minister of Health and Family Welfare
2009–2014		 Succeeded by
Harsh Vardhan
Preceded by
Arun Jaitley		 Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha
2014–present		 Incumbent
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