At Least 13 New MLAs In Jammu And Kashmir Are From Political Families

Srinagar: At least 13 newly elected MLAs in Jammu and Kashmir come from political families whose members have won or contested elections in the past, with the National Conference accounting for the maximum number of such legislators.

The National Conference, which has emerged as the single largest party in the Assembly elections, is set to form the government after fighting the polls in an alliance with the Congress.

Chief Minister designate Omar Abdullah is a third-generation legislator from the Abdullah clan. His father Farooq Abdullah and grandfather Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah have both been MLAs and the chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir as well.

Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Tariq Hameed Karra comes from an influential political family from Srinagar. Although his grandfather Ghulam Mohiuddin Karra was never an MLA, he held considerable influence in the National Conference till he parted ways with Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah in 1954 to form his own party — Political Conference.

The JKPCC chief has been an MLA in the past. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Srinagar constituency in 2014 but resigned to protest the civilian killings during the summer unrest of 2016 in the valley.

A man expected to have a bright political future among the second-generation politicians is Salman Sagar, who has been elected to the Assembly from the Hazratbal seat.

Salman Sagar’s father, Ali Mohammad Sagar, will be sitting in the front row of the treasury benches in the assembly having won a record seventh straight term as an MLA — twice from the erstwhile Batamaloo seat and five times from the Khanyar segment.

A key player in tribal politics of Kashmir, Mian Altaf Ahmad — who is currently the Lok Sabha member from Anantnag-Rajouri constituency — has been replaced as the MLA from Kangan by his son Mian Mehar Ali. The 67-year-old Lok Sabha member would have been vying for a sixth straight term if he had not been elected to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.

Another relative of Mian Altaf Ahmad has been elected to the assembly this time. His brother-in-law Zafar Ali Khatana was elected from the Kokernag assembly segment, which has been reserved for the Scheduled Tribe candidates following the delimitation exercise in 2022.

Hilal Akbar Lone, the son of former assembly speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone, has been elected from the Sonawari seat. The senior Lone was a member from the Sonawari seat three times between 2002 and 2018.

National Conference chief spokesman Tanvir Sadiq, who was elected from Zadibal assembly segment, is the son of former MLA Sadiq Ali while the party’s MLA from Uri, Sajjad Shafi, is the son of former Education Minister Mohammad Shafi Uri.

Irshad Rasool Kar, who won on a National Conference ticket from Sopore assembly segment, is the son of veteran Congress leader and former JKPCC chief Ghulam Rasool Kar.

The MLA from Srigufwara-Bijbehara Bashir Ahmad Veeri is the son of former minister Abdul Gani Shah Veeri while MLA Lal Chowk Sheikh Ahsan Ahmad is the son of former MLC Sheikh Ghulam Qadir Pardesi.

Outside the National Conference (NC)-Congress alliance, PDP MLA Rafeeq Ahmad Naik, who won from the Tral segment, is the son of former speaker and National Conference leader Ali Mohammad Naik and MLA Langate Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh is the brother of Lok Sabha member from Baramulla, Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer Rashid. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)