The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) is a regional political party in Indian-administered Kashmir's union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Founded as the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference by Sheikh Abdullah and Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas in 1932 in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the organisation renamed itself to "National Conference" in 1939 in order to represent all the people of the state. It supported the accession of the princely state to India in 1947. Prior to that, in 1941, a group led by Ghulam Abbas broke off from the National Conference and revived the old Muslim Conference. The revived Muslim Conference supported the accession of the princely state to Pakistan and led the movement for Azad Kashmir.
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was an Indian politician who served twice as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, during November 2002–November 2005 and March 2015–January 2016. He was also Minister of Tourism in Rajiv Gandhi's cabinet and Home Minister of India in V. P. Singh's cabinet. He started in the wing of the National Conference led by G. M. Sadiq, which later merged into the Indian National Congress. He switched to Janata Dal in 1987, eventually founding his own regional party, People's Democratic Party (PDP). The PDP continues to be a political force in Jammu and Kashmir, currently led by his daughter Mehbooba Mufti.
Mehbooba Mufti Sayed is an Indian politician of the PDP, who served as the 9th Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir from 4 April 2016 to 19 June 2018. She was the first female chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. After the revocation of Article 370 of the constitution in August 2019, Mufti was detained without any charges at first and later under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act.
Omar Abdullah is an Indian politician who served as former Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and Chairperson of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference since 2009.
Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was a Kashmiri politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir. Abdullah was the founding leader of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference and the 1st elected Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir after its accession to India. He agitated against the rule of the Maharaja Hari Singh and urged self-rule for Kashmir.
The Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a state political party in Jammu and Kashmir, India. The PDP was headed and founded by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. His daughter, Mehbooba Mufti, succeeded him as party leader and as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir following his death in January 2016. The party is a member of the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration electoral alliance. The party is also a member of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance since its founding on 18 June 2023.
The Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party is a socialist and secular state political party in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The party was founded on 23 March 1982 by husband and wife couple Prof. Bhim Singh and Jay Mala, Its aim is to "demolish corruption, communalism, criminalization, drug menace" and to establish a real democracy through ultimate revolution. Panthers party has maintained power at assembly and local level for over four decades in its stronghold within the mountainous Udhampur constituency, where in the vicinity 5.9 million tonnes of lithium, the 7th largest known reserve in the world, with an estimated value of $500 billion, was discovered in February 2023.
Although India is a parliamentary democracy, the country's politics has become dynastic or with high level of nepotism, possibly due to the absence of party organizations, independent civil-society associations which mobilize support for a party, or centralized financing of elections. The dynastic phenomenon is present at the national, state, regional, and district level. The Nehru–Gandhi family has produced three Indian prime ministers, and family members have largely led the Congress party since 1978. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also has several dynastic leaders. In addition to the major national parties, other national and regional parties such as Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal Secular, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Kerala Congress, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, Indian Union Muslim League, AIMIM, and the Nationalist Congress Party are all dominated by families, mostly those of the party founders.
Akbar Jehan Abdullah was an Indian Kashmiri politician. The wife of Abdullah Sheikh, three-time Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, she twice served as a Member of India Parliament.
Professor Saifuddin Soz is an Indian professor and seven term Member of the Parliament of India. Soz hails from the Indian Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
First ever Gujjar Muslim from Jammu and Kashmir nominated to Rajya sabha. Choudhary Mohammad Aslam Lassanvi. Born in village Lassana in Surankote Poonch) was a politician from the Indian National Congress party, a Member of the Parliament of India represented Jammu and Kashmir in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament, with term ending on 29 November 2008.
Elections for the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir were held over seven days in November and December 2008. The previous government led by the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP) in coalition with the Indian National Congress (INC) collapsed when the PDP withdrew. Following the election, the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (NC) agreed on a coalition with Congress and their leader, Omar Abdullah became the state's youngest-ever Chief Minister at 38.
Ghulam Mohammad Shah or G. M. Shah or Gul Shah was an Indian politician who was Chief Minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir from 2 July 1984 to 6 March 1986. He succeeded his brother-in-law Farooq Abdullah. Shah's father-in-law was Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the founder of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, of which Shah was once a senior member. Shah died on 6 January 2009 at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar. He was 88.
Ghulam Nabi Ratanpuri is a politician in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India.
Mirza Afzal Beg widely known as Fakhr-e-Kashmir (1908–1982) was a Kashmiri politician and the founding member of Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. He was the first Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He was member of the Constituent Assembly of India. He served as a minister in the pre-independence period in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, and as the revenue minister in the post-independence government headed by Sheikh Abdullah. In this post he led the land reforms in Jammu and Kashmir, recognised as the most successful land reforms in India.
Elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India to elect the representatives of various bodies at national, state and district levels including the 114 seat unicameral Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and the Parliament of India. The first elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir took place between 28 November and 19 December 2020 in the form of by-elections to District Development Councils and municipal and panchayat level bodies. A fresh delimitation process for assembly constituencies began in February–March 2020.
Tariq Hameed Karra is an Indian politician and was a member of parliament to the 16th Lok Sabha from Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. He had won the 2014 Indian general election being a Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party candidate by defeating Dr. Farooq Abdullah of National Conference by more than 40000 votes, and thereby handing the veteran politician his first ever electoral defeat in 4 decades. He was a fierce critic of the BJP-PDP alliance from the very beginning and resigned from the Lok Sabha and PDP, of which he was a founding member as a mark of protest against innocent civilian killings in September 2016 and later joined the Indian National Congress in February 2017 and was later nominated as a member of Congress Working Committee, the first for any politician from Kashmir valley. He has also served as the Finance, Planning and Law minister for Jammu and Kashmir state.
A by-election was held in the Lok Sabha constituency of Srinagar on 9 April 2017 with repolling in 38 polling on 13 April. It was triggered by the resignation of Tariq Hameed Karra after his defection from Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party to the Indian National Congress.
Chowdhary Mohmmad Hussain was an Indian politician and bureaucrat. He was part of 4th, 6th, 8th and 9th Jammu and Kashmir state Legislative assembly. He represented the Darhal Vidhan Sabha constituency of Rajouri district of erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir 5 times. He was first elected as MLA from this seat, on the mandate of Indian national congress in 1967 and 1969. He remained district chief of the INC for a long period. In 1972 he was denied the mandate by the INC, In 1975 he joined Jammu and Kashmir national conference headed by Sheikh Mohmmed Abdullah. In 1977 he contested the elections from the same vidhan sabha seat on the mandate of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference and was elected for 3rd time to the Vidhan Sabha. He was inducted in the council of ministers of Sheikh Mohmmed Abdullah. In 1983 he lost the elections to INC candidate and veteran spiritual gujjar leader with a very thin margin. In 1987, elections to Jammu and Kashmir legialative assembly, he was again elected to represent this constituency. Again, in 1996 elected to vidhan sabha for, and was again inducted in the council of ministers headed by Dr Farooq Abdullah which he held till his death 30 September 2002. He also served as Block Development Officer from 1957 to 1967. As a minister he headed the revenue, relief and rehabilitation, rural development and Panchayati Raj cooperatives departments etc. His younger son Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali also represents Darhal in 11th and 12th Assemblies and was a cabinet minister in the Mufti Mohommad Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti Governments.
Peer Mohammed Hussain Soharvardi is a Kashmiri politician and former Minister of State in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. He served as Member of Legislative Assembly (2002-2008) after being elected from the Shangus assembly constituency. He, subsequently, also served as Vice Chairman of the J&K Muslim Wakf Board.
