In a move that took everyone including the Bhartiya Janta Party leadership in Jammu and Kashmir by surprise, the BJP central leadership nominated a low-key BJP leader Ghulam Ali to the Rajya Sabha. Many in the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir were puzzled as they couldn’t recollect who this Ghulam Ali is.
Hailing from the Gujjar tribe, Ghulam Ali is an Engineer by profession. A resident of Bathindi neighbourhood in the Jammu district, Ghulam Ali joined BJP in 2008 when the BJP was not popular in Jammu and Kashmir and it was not attracting political leaders.
The appointment notification released by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs says: “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of Article 80 of the Constitution of India, read with clause 93) of that Article, the President is pleased to nominate Ghulam Ali to the Council of States to fill the vacancy caused due to retirement of one of the nominated members.” Ali will be the lone member from Jammu and Kashmir in the Rajya Sabha. All four Rajya Sabha members from J&K completed their tenure in February 2021. Elections for vacancies from J&K in the Rajya Sabha couldn’t be held due to the delay in Assembly polls. Since 2018 when the then Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved J&K Assembly, elections have not been held in J&K. The government delayed the elections citing the delimitation exercise, which was completed in May this year. However, after the delimitation exercise was completed, the Election Commission of India started a revision of the electoral rolls. The exercise will complete by November this year and after that, the ECI is likely to announce polls in the restive region.
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Ghulam Ali has remained very low profile in the BJP but served the party in various wings including the Scheduled Tribe cell.
Ghulam Ali is the second Gujjar leader from Jammu and Kashmir to go to Rajya Sabha. Choudhary Mohammad Aslam, a veteran Congress leader, was in Rajya Sabha a couple of decades ago.
Nominating a low-key Gujjar leader to Rajya Sabha is a move by the party to reach out to the community which constitutes around 10 per cent of the J&K population.
Ali told reporters that it is a moment of pride for the people of Jammu and Kashmir that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chosen a native of Jammu & Kashmir for Rajya Sabha.
