Farooq Abdullah (born 21 October 1937) is an Indian politician and the current president of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. He has served as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on several occasions since 1982, and as the union minister for New and Renewable Energy between 2009 and 2014. He is the son of the 1st elected chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Sheikh Abdullah. His son is the current chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah.
Farooq Abdullah | |
|---|---|
 Abdullah in 2011 | |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| Assumed office November 2024 | |
| Constituency | Jammu and Kashmir |
| In office 30 November 2002 – 29 November 2008 | |
| 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 |
| In office 13 May 2009 – 12 May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Omar Abdullah |
| Succeeded by | Tariq Hameed Karra |
| Constituency | Srinagar |
| In office 6 January 1980 – 5 January 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Begum Akbar Jehan Abdullah |
| Succeeded by | Abdul Rashid Kabuli |
| Constituency | Srinagar |
| 4th Chief Minister of the state 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 | |
| In office 28 May 2009 – 26 May 2014 | |
| Prime Minister | Manmohan Singh |
| Preceded by | Vilas Muttemwar |
| Succeeded by | Piyush Goyal |
| President of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference | |
| Assumed office 2009 | |
| Chairman | Omar Abdullah |
| Preceded by | Omar Abdullah |
| In office 1981-2002 | |
| Preceded by | Sheikh Abdullah |
| Succeeded by | Omar Abdullah |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 October 1937 Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, British India |
| Political party | Jammu & Kashmir National Conference |
| Spouse | Mollie Abdullah[1] |
| Relations | Sheikh Mustafa Kamal (brother) |
| Children |
|
| Residence(s) | Gupkar Road Srinagar, Kashmir |
| Alma mater | Tyndale Biscoe School and Sawai Man Singh Medical College |
| Occupation | Politician |
Early life and education
editFarooq Abdullah was born to the veteran statesman and National Conference leader Sheikh Abdullah and Begum Akbar Jehan Abdullah. He studied at Tyndale Biscoe School, and subsequently received his MBBS degree from SMS Medical College, Jaipur. He subsequently travelled to the UK to practice medicine.[2]
Family
editHe is married to Molly, a nurse of British origin. They have a son, Omar, and three daughters, Safia, Hinna, and Sara. Their son Omar Abdullah is also involved in state and national politics, who was a member of the Lok Sabha and was the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Sara was married to Congress leader Sachin Pilot, but they divorced in late 2023.[3]
Political career
editEntry into politics
editAt that time his father Sheikh Abdullah was the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Farooq Abdullah was elected to the Lok Sabha unopposed as a founding party member of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference.[4] from Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency in the 1980 General Election.
Chief Minister, 1982–1984
editAbdullah was a novice in the political arena of Jammu and Kashmir when he was appointed president of the National 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-law Ghulam 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.
1984–1996
editIn 1986, G.M. Shah's government was dismissed after the communal 1986 Kashmir riots in South Kashmir, and a new National Conference–Congress government was sworn in with Abdullah as the chief minister, after the Rajiv-Farooq accord.
A new 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 the kidnapping of the daughter of the Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. The period also witnessed the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir valley. Subsequently, Farooq Abdullah resigned in protest after Jagmohan was appointed the governor, and the state's assembly was dismissed.[5][6] He subsequently moved to the United Kingdom.[7]
Chief Minister, 1996–2002
editAfter returning to India, and winning the Legislative 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 the Atal Bihari Vajpayee led National Democratic Alliance, and his son Omar Abdullah was subsequently appointed a union minister of state for External Affairs.
Subsequent political career
editIn the 2002 Legislative 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 by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took office. On that year Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2002 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 from Srinagar.[9] Abdullah joined the United Progressive Alliance government as a Cabinet Minister of New and Renewable Energy.
Abdullah contested the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat again in the 2014 General Election, but was defeated by the People's Democratic Party candidate Tariq Hameed Karra. In 2017, Tariq Hameed Karra resigned from the position, leading to a by-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 the Public Safety Act. Prior to this, Abdullah was under house arrest since the scrapping of Article 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]
370 Hearing
editAfter his son Omar Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah made his presence in the Supreme court of India in relation to Article 370 hearing.
References
edit- ^ "Members : Lok Sabha".
- ^ "Farooq Abdullah Biography - About family, political life, awards won, history". elections.in. 21 October 1937. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
- ^ "Sachin Pilot and Sara Abdullah 'divorced', reveals poll affidavit". The Week. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "TitlePage-VolI_LS99.PDF" (PDF). Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ Koithara, Verghese (2004). Crafting peace in Kashmir : through a realist lens. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. pp. 61–62. ISBN 978-0-7619-3262-8. OCLC 237902298.
- ^ Sabharwal, Gopa (2017), India Since 1947: The Independent Years, Penguin, p. 282, ISBN 9789352140893
- ^ Dulat, Amarjeet Singh (2015). Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-9-3517-7066-4.
- ^ "Vajpayee reneged on promise to make Farooq V-P: Ex-RAW boss". 2 July 2015.
- ^ "Alphabetical List Of Former Members Of Rajya Sabha Since 1952". 164.100.47.5. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ "Srinagar By-Election: Farooq Abdullah Beats PDP Candidate In Key Contest". Ndtv.com. 15 April 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ "Farooq Abdullah, 83, Detained Under Tough Public Safety Act". Ndtv.com. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- ^ "Farooq Abdullah's detention order revoked after seven-and-half months of captivity; 82-yr-old Srinagar MP was under house arrest". Firstpost. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
- ^ "Farooq Abdullah Declines To Be Opposition's Presidential Candidate". NDTV.com. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
External links
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