G. M. Saroori
G.M. Saroori speaking on “PM’s New 15 Point Programme Welfare of Minorities”, at the Bharat Nirman Public Information Campaign, in Kishtwar, Doda, Jammu & Kashmir on September 02, 2006
Cabinet Minister, Government of Jammu and Kashmir
In office
11 July 2009 – 26 August 2010
GovernorN. N. Vohra
Chief MinisterOmar Abdullah
Ministry and Departments
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Roads & Buildings
Preceded byOmar Abdullah
Succeeded byOmar Abdullah[1]
Minister of State, Government of Jammu and Kashmir
In office
1 January 2008 – 11 July 2008
GovernorS. K. Sinha
N. N. Vohra
Chief MinisterGhulam Nabi Azad
Ministry and Departments
  • Tourism
  • Forest
  • School Education
  • Social Welfare
  • Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution
MLA of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly
In office
2002–2018
Preceded byQazi Jalaluddin[2]
ConstituencyInderwal
Personal details
Born (1955-01-01) 1 January 1955[3]
Sarthal, Kishtwar district, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Political partyDemocratic Progressive Azad Party
Other political
affiliations		Indian National Congress (until 2022)
Children2
Residences
AwardsBest Legislators Award 2014—15[5]

Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, also known as G. M. Saroori, is an Indian politician and the former legislator of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, who represented Inderwal constituency of Kishtwar district from 2002 to 2018 until the coalition government was ended in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.[4][6][7][8]

Saroori was affiliated with Indian National Congress until August 2022 and had also served as its vice-president. In 2008, he was appointed as a Minister of State for Tourism, Forest, School Education, Social Welfare and Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution. He also served as the Minister for Mechanical Engineering and Roads & Buildings from 2009—2010.[9]

Early life

Ghulam Mohammad Saroori was born to Saidullah Saroori, who served as the sarpanch of the Sarthal panchayat for 32 years. He worked for the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department for two months before becoming a businessman alongside his father.[10] He and his family migrated to Kishtwar between 1992 and 1993 due to the militancy in the region.[11] He fathered one daughter and one son, named Huma Tabassum and Muneeb Ahmed, respectively.[12]

Political career

Saroori became associated with Nirmala Deshpande who was a social worker and Gandhian.[10]

He first contested in the assembly elections as an independent candidate from the Inderwal Assembly constituency in 1996, losing by nearly 200 votes.[10] He was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly consecutively in the 2002, 2008 and 2014 elections as a member of the Indian National Congress.[13]

On 1 January 2008, he was appointed as the Minister of State for Tourism, Forest, School Education, Social Welfare and Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution under the state government of Ghulam Nabi Azad.[14][15] He played a key role in defusing the communal tension in the Chenab Valley after the theft of an idol from the Mata Sarthal Devi Mandir by getting the culprits arrested.[10]

Saroori was appointed as the Minister for Roads & Buildings and Mechanical Engineering under the coalition government of Jammu & Kashmir National Conference and Congress led by Omar Abdullah on 11 July 2009.[16][9] He was asked by the Congress to resign from his post after a scandal involving the alleged use of an impersonator appearing on his daughter's behalf in an examination, but he ignored it and left for Jeddah to perform umrah on 25 August 2010. The state government decided to dismiss him on the following day.[17] He was however cleared of all charges by the Central Bureau of Investigation in August 2012.[18]

A complaint was lodged with the State Accountability Commission against Saroori in October 2012 over alleged allotments of around 2,000 tenders during his tenure as the Minister of Roads & Buildings.[19] He was however cleared of all charges in February 2014 as they stemmed from the period of April—June 2009 when Abdullah held the portfolio.[20]

Saroori was appointed as a vice-president for the state unit of the Congress in March 2015.[21] He was conferred the Best Legislator Award for the year 2014—15 by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in 2016.[5] In February 2020, he was summoned by the National Investigation Agency over allegations of him being linked to a Hizbul Mujahideen commander named Jehangir Saroori.[22] He was later exonerated by the agency.[10]

Saroori quit the Congress along with seven other leaders on 26 August 2022 after the resignation of Azad from the party.[23] He joined the Democratic Azad Party launched by Azad on 26 September 2022.[24]

References

  1. ↑ "Allotment of Portfolio". General Administration Department, Government of Jammu & Kashmir. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  2. ↑ Zafar Choudhary (10 February 2017). "Here is an alternative assembly: 81 in number, growing in size, ideas; looking at inclusive role". The News Now. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  3. ↑ "Ghulam Muhammad Saroori, INC MLA from Inderwal – Our Neta". Ourneta.com. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Ghulam Mohd. Saroori (Indian National Congress(INC)):Constituency- INDERWAL(KISHTWAR) - Affidavit Information of Candidate". myneta.info.
  5. 1 2 "Zulfkar, Haq, Saroori conferred with Best Legislators Award". The Tribune. 7 Jun 2016. Retrieved 16 Jun 2020.
  6. ↑ "J&K: NIA summons senior Congress leader Ghulam Mohammad Saroori". Deccan Herald. February 10, 2020.
  7. ↑ "BJP-PDP Alliance in J&K an 'Experiment', Ended When Mehbooba Mufti Delayed Panchayat Poll: PM Modi". News18. 9 April 2019.
  8. ↑ Sandhu, Kamaljit Kaur (February 10, 2020). "NIA summons senior Jammu and Kashmir Congress leader GM Saroori". India Today.
  9. 1 2 "List of ministers in Ministry of Home affairs Government of India" (PDF).
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Arun Sharma (29 August 2022). "Team Ghulam Nabi Azad: Former ministers to ex-MLAs, upper castes to Dalit and Gujjar faces, J&K Congress leaders who have rallied behind him". The Indian Express. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  11. ↑ "JK Cong leader probed by NIA says nothing to hide, denies link with Hizbul terrorist". Press Trust of India. Business Standard. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  12. ↑ "CBI challans ASCOMS impersonation scam". Daily Excelsior. 29 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  13. ↑ Zulfikar Majid (10 February 2020). "J&K: NIA summons senior Congress leader Ghulam Mohammad Saroori". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  14. ↑ Mukhtar Ahmad (1 January 2008). "J&K cabinet expanded". Rediff.com. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  15. ↑ "Saroori visits far flung areas of Bhalessa". Early Times. 30 May 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  16. ↑ Mukhtar Ahmad (11 July 2009). "Omar Abdullah expands J&K cabinet". Rediff.com. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  17. ↑ "Saroori sacked over impersonation row". The New Indian Express. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  18. ↑ "Former Cong minister given clean chit by CBI in JK". Press Trust of India. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  19. ↑ Peerzada Ummer (15 March 2015). "SAC registered case in 2012, action awaited". Early Times. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  20. ↑ Muhammad Raafi (6 February 2014). "Saroori accuses Omar of allotting 2000 works without tendering". Kashmir Life. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  21. ↑ "New PCC office bearers announced". Daily Excelsior. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  22. ↑ Ravi Krishnan Khajuria (10 February 2020). "NIA summons J-K Cong vice president GM Saroori over Kishtwar terror cases". The Indian Express. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  23. ↑ "8 J&K Congress leaders quit in support of Azad, more resignations likely". Hindustan Times. 27 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  24. ↑ "Azad elected chairman of Democratic Azad Party". Press Trust of India. 1 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
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