Javed Ahmad Dar: From commerce graduate to 2-time cabinet minister

Srinagar, Oct 16: Javed Ahmad Dar, a seasoned politician made significant progress in his political career soon after his graduation in commerce.

Dar, a resident of Ladoora Rafiabad after passing his class 12th examination went to Pune to pursue his higher education at Pune University.

He completed his Bachelors in Commerce from Pune University in 1997.

Next year, he applied for a Master in Business Administration (MBA) degree.

However, he completed only two semesters of his MBA and returned home as his father passed away in 1998.

His father, Muhammad Yousuf Dar, a close associate of former home minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) founder Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, also represented Rafiabad constituency as MLA after he won the 1971 assembly election on the Congress ticket.

He also contested the 1996 election but lost the election against his opponent.

He remained associated with Sayeed all along his life.

After he passed away in 1998, Dar formally stepped into politics in 2002 and joined the then newly-formed PDP.

He was formally welcomed by the PDP chief Sayeed.

He contested his first assembly election in 2002 and got only 7000 votes and lost the election against his opponent.

After spending six years in the PDP, Dar left the party and formally joined the National Conference (NC) in the presence of Farooq Abdullah in 2008.

Dar joined NC months before assembly elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir.

As an NC candidate, Dar contested his second assembly election in 2008 and won the election against his opponent from PDP Dilawar Mir.

Following his victory in the assembly elections, Dar received responsibilities of a Minister of State to look after the Roads and Buildings (R&B) Department.

In 2014, he lost the Rafiabad seat to PDP candidate Yawar Mir amid a strong PDP wave.

In the recently held elections, Dar made a comeback in the Rafiabad constituency and won with a margin of 9202 votes.

As many as 28,783 votes were polled in his favour while his opponent Yawar Mir got 19,581 votes.

Following his victory in the assembly election, Dar was sworn in as cabinet minister at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar.