Ghulam Mohammad Saroori

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G. M. Saroori
File: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.jpg


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 2 September 2006

Office Cabinet Minister, Government of Jammu and Kashmir
Office Minister of State, Government of Jammu and Kashmir
Office MLA of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly



Term start 11 July 2009
Term end 26 August 2010
Predecessor Omar Abdullah
Successor Omar Abdullah[1]





Born 1955-01-01 (age 71)[2]
Born Sarthal, Kishtwar district, Jammu and Kashmir, India





Political party Indian National Congress (until 2022; 2025–present)


Children 5




Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, also known as G. M. Saroori, is an Indian politician and a former legislator of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, who represented the Inderwal constituency of Kishtwar district from 2002 to 2018 until the coalition government was ended in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.[3][4][5][6]

Saroori was affiliated with the Indian National Congress until August 2022, during which he also served as its vice-president. He later briefly joined the Democratic Azad Party following its formation in September 2022,[7] but rejoined the Congress on 28 June 2025.[8] In 2008, he was appointed a Minister of State for Tourism, Forest, School Education, Social Welfare and Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution, and later served as the Minister for Mechanical Engineering and Roads & Buildings from 2009 to 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 three daughters and two sons..

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.[4]

On 1 January 2008, he was appointed the Minister of State for Tourism, Forest, School Education, Social Welfare and Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution under the state government of Ghulam Nabi Azad.[12][13] He played a key role in defusing the communal tension after the theft of an idol from the Mata Sarthal Devi Mandir by getting the culprits arrested.[10]

Saroori was appointed 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.[14][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.[15] He was however cleared of all charges by the Central Bureau of Investigation in August 2012.[16]

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.[17] 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.[18]

Saroori was appointed a vice-president for the state unit of the Congress in March 2015.[19] He was conferred the Best Legislator Award for the year 2014–15 by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in 2016.[20] 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.[21] 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. He contested the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election as an independent candidate to independent candidate Payare Lal Sharma by a margin of 643 votes [22] He joined the Democratic Azad Party launched by Azad on 26 September 2022.[23] He lost his seat in 2024. On 28 June 2025, he returned to the Indian National Congress at a ceremony in Srinagar attended by senior party leaders. His comeback was viewed as a boost for the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir and a setback for the Democratic Progressive Azad Party.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Allotment of Portfolio(27 August 2010). Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  2. ↑ Ghulam Muhammad Saroori, INC MLA from Inderwal – Our Neta. Ourneta.com. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  3. ↑ Ghulam Mohd. Saroori (Indian National Congress(INC)):Constituency- Inderwal (Kishtwar) - Affidavit Information of Candidate. myneta.info.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 J&K: NIA summons senior Congress leader Ghulam Mohammad Saroori. Deccan Herald(10 February 2020). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  5. ↑ BJP-PDP Alliance in J&K an 'Experiment', Ended When Mehbooba Mufti Delayed Panchayat Poll: PM Modi. News18(9 April 2019).
  6. ↑ NIA summons senior Jammu and Kashmir Congress leader GM Saroori, Sandhu, Kamaljit Kaur. India Today(10 February 2020).
  7. ↑ Azad elected chairman of Democratic Azad Party(1 October 2022). Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 After brief stint with Ghulam Azad's DPAP, two J&K ex-ministers rejoin Congress, Iqbal, Naveed. The Indian Express(28 June 2025). Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 List of ministers in Ministry of Home affairs Government of India.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 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(29 August 2022). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  11. ↑ JK Cong leader probed by NIA says nothing to hide, denies link with Hizbul terrorist. Press Trust of India(12 February 2020). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  12. ↑ J&K cabinet expanded. Rediff.com(1 January 2008). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  13. ↑ Saroori visits far flung areas of Bhalessa. Early Times(30 May 2008). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  14. ↑ Omar Abdullah expands J&K cabinet. Rediff.com(11 July 2009). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  15. ↑ Saroori sacked over impersonation row. The New Indian Express(26 August 2010). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  16. ↑ Former Cong minister given clean chit by CBI in JK. Press Trust of India(28 August 2012). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  17. ↑ SAC registered case in 2012, action awaited. Early Times(15 March 2015). Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  18. ↑ Saroori accuses Omar of allotting 2000 works without tendering. Kashmir Life(6 February 2014). Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  19. ↑ New PCC office bearers announced. Daily Excelsior(28 March 2015). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  20. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named award
  21. ↑ NIA summons J-K Cong vice president GM Saroori over Kishtwar terror cases. The Indian Express(10 February 2020). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  22. ↑ 8 J&K Congress leaders quit in support of Azad, more resignations likely. Hindustan Times(27 August 2022). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  23. ↑ Azad elected chairman of Democratic Azad Party. Press Trust of India(1 October 2022). Retrieved 5 October 2022.
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