New Delhi: Gulam Ali, a Gujjar Muslim from Jammu and Kashmir, was on Saturday nominated to Rajya Sabha by the government. This is perhaps the first time a Gujjar Muslim from the region has been sent to the Upper House as a nominated member. In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (a) of clause (I) of article 80 of the Constitution of India, read with clause (3) of that article, the President is pleased to nominate Shri Gulam Ali to the Council of States to fill the vacancy caused due to the retirement of one of the nominated members, a notification issued by the Union Home Ministry said.
The move is considered to be significant as, before the abrogation of Article 370, the community had little representation in legislative bodies. The Modi government abrogated Article 370 in August 2019 and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union Territories Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The article gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
