Ghulam Nabi Azad (born 7 March 1949) is an Indian politician from Jammu and Kashmir. He spent about fifty years in the Indian National Congress, serving as a Union minister under four Prime Ministers, as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir from 2005 to 2008 and as Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha from 2014 to 2021. He resigned from the party in August 2022 and founded the Democratic Progressive Azad Party. He received the Padma Bhushan in 2022.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Ghulam Nabi Azad |
| Born | 7 March 1949, Soti, Doda district, Jammu and Kashmir, India |
| Age | 77 |
| Party | Democratic Progressive Azad Party (since 2022); earlier Indian National Congress |
| Offices | Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir (2005–2008); Union Health Minister (2009–2014); Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha (2014–2021) |
| Education | University of Kashmir (M.Sc. Zoology) |
| Spouse | Shameem Dev Azad (m. 1980) |
| Children | 2 (Saddam and Sofiya) |
| Honour | Padma Bhushan (2022) |
Early Life
Azad was born in a village in the mountainous Doda district. He studied in Jammu and took a master’s degree in zoology from the University of Kashmir. He began as a block-level Congress worker in 1973 and rose through the Youth Congress, becoming its national president in 1980.
Political Career
He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980 from Washim in Maharashtra and became a minister in 1982. Over the next three decades he held portfolios including Parliamentary Affairs, Civil Aviation, Tourism and Urban Development under Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P. V. Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh, and was the party’s trusted organiser in many states. He became Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in November 2005 under a power-sharing deal with the People’s Democratic Party; his government fell in July 2008 during the Amarnath land transfer agitation. As Union Health Minister he expanded the National Rural Health Mission.
Leaving the Congress
In 2020 he was one of the “G-23” leaders who wrote to Sonia Gandhi seeking reforms in the party. When he retired from the Rajya Sabha in February 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave an emotional farewell speech. He quit the Congress on 26 August 2022 with a letter sharply critical of Rahul Gandhi. His new party fared poorly in the 2024 elections.
Personal Life
He is married to Shameem Dev Azad, a well-known Kashmiri singer. His memoir, Azaad, was published in 2023.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Ghulam Nabi Azad born?
Ghulam Nabi Azad was born on 7 March 1949 in Soti, Doda district, Jammu and Kashmir, India and is 77 years old.
Featured image: Ghulam Nabi Azad, then Union Health Minister, speaks at a consultation on school health programmes, New Delhi, September 2012. Photo by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
