Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali is an Indian politician and former cabinet minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He is an Advocate by profession and was part of the 11th and 12th Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly from Darhal constituency. He is a second-generation politician whose father Chowdhary Mohmmad Hussain was a renowned politician in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Zulfkar has also served as Cabinet Minister under the Chief Ministership of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti 2015 to 2018. He was associated with Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party and served as district chief of the party for district Rajouri 2003 to 2013. He resigned from the PDP and became one of the founding member of Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party. Presently Vice President of the party. Ali has been Honoured with Best Legislature 2012. As a Cabinet Minister, Ali headed various portfolios. Zulfkar also implemented the national food security act (NFSA) in the state and launched a food for poor scheme (MMSFES).
Personal life
Zulfkar was born on 1 January 1970 at Tralla, Rajouri to a well-known bureaucrat turned politician Chowdhary Mohmmad Hussain, who belongs to a feudal Zaildar family of the district Rajouri who was a member of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative assembly for 5 terms. Mohmmad Hussain has also served as a minister under the chief ministership of Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and Dr Farooq Abdullah. Zulfkar did early schooling from MIER Jammu and Graduation from Prince of Wales College Jammu and bachelors in law and masters in law from University of Jammu and masters in business administration (MBA) from IGNOU. He also did a post-graduate diploma course in Journalism and mass communication, industrial relation personal management, human resources development, business administration and rural development. He is married to Ms Zubeida, daughter of a renowned politician Haji Buland Khan who also served as a member of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative assembly and council.
Political career
Zulfkar was active in politics as a student leader and was a president of the student union in University of Jammu. As his father was associated with Jammu and Kashmir national conference after completing his education he joined Jammu and Kashmir national conference and became the zonal president of the youth wing of the party. In 2002, he was denied a ticket by the national conference from the darhal assembly segment and he contested as a rebel national conference candidate in the 2002 general assembly election and lost with a narrow margin. On 5 January 2003, he joined Jammu and Kashmir people democratic party under the leadership of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and became the district president which he held for a decade in 2008 general election, he again contested the election from the same segment on the PDP Mandidate and was elected to the 11th J&K legislative assembly from 2008 to 2014, he introduced several important legislation, bills resolutions and issues of general public importance in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly. He also served as a member of the Public Accounts Committee, estimates committee, public undertakings committee, subordinate legislation committee, environment committee etc. and also served as chairman of ethics committee, subordinate legislation committee, and brick klin committee. He was given certificate of appreciation by Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly for his maiden year 2009 in the assembly. His two brother-in-Law Ajaz Ahmed Khan & Mumtaz Ahmed Khan were members of Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly. In the 2014 general election, he had been reelected to the 12th Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly and was inducted as a cabinet minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government and was re-inducted as the cabinet minister headed by Mehbooba Mufti.
