As the only Leader of Opposition, in the Rajya Sabha since 2014, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad retires on February 15, in less than a week's time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi bid him a teary farewell on the floor of the House today. On the other hand, Congress faces a dilemma as to who will be the next Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha?
A Congress stalwart, Ghulam Nabi Azad has been in the Rajya Sabha for more than two decades. In his parting speech he said on Tuesday, that he counts himself among those fortunate people who did not go to Pakistan and are proud to be a Hindustani Muslim.
The outgoing Rajya Sabha member whose term is coming to an end next week said that contrary to Muslim societies across the world which are infested with infighting, Indian Muslims have lived together and should continue to do so.
Career details
Azad started his political career as a Block Secretary of Congress Committee in 1973.
In 1975, he was nominated as the President of Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Youth Congress.
In 1980, Azad was appointed as the President of the All India Youth Congress.
Between 1980 and 1984, he served as a Member of the Lok Sabha (from Washim, Maharashtra).
From 1982 - 1983, he was the Union Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs.
From 1983 - 1984, Azad was the Union Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
He was appointed as the Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs on December 31, 1984.
He also served as the Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs for a brief while from May to October 1986.
In October 1986, he was chosen as the Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies.
Ghulam Nabi Azad first became a Rajya Sabha member in 1990 from Maharashtra.
In 1996, Azad shifted to his home state, Jammu and Kashmir which became a Union Territory in 2019.
Ghulam Nabi Azad represented UT Jammu and Kashmir from 1996 to 2006.
Azad resigned mid-way as he became the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in November 2, 2005.
Ghulam Nabi Azad again became the Rajya Sabha MP from Jammu and Kashmir in 2009 and has been a member since then.
In 2014, when the Congress-led UPA was voted out of power, Ghulam Nabi Azad was chosen as the Leader of Opposition.
Azad, has been a member of the upper house for 28 years.
He was a member of Lok Sabha for 10 years.
He was Chief Minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir assembly for three years.
"As a leader of the opposition, it's easy to engage in party politics, but Ghulam Nabi Azad ji rose above this and always prioritized the prosperity of country first," the PM was quoted saying in his farewell speech on Ghulam Nabi Azad.
