Srinagar: Supporters of senior National Conference (NC) leader and Eidgah MLA Mubarak Gul staged a protest at Press Colony in Srinagar on Wednesday, demanding that the veteran legislator be inducted into the Jammu and Kashmir Council of Ministers or that he quit the party.
Wearing white shrouds and carrying placards, the protesters expressed resentment over Gul’s exclusion from the Cabinet during the latest expansion of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s government. They raised slogans such as “Do justice to Eidgah, make Mubarak Gul a cabinet minister” and “Gul Sahab, resign”, calling on the party leadership to address what they described as an injustice to the senior leader.
One of the protesters alleged that the National Conference had failed to honour its commitment to Gul despite his long electoral record and years of service to the party. The protester claimed that NC president Farooq Abdullah had assured them that Gul would be accommodated in the government and that his name had figured in the list of probable ministers until shortly before the swearing-in.
The allegations could not be independently verified.
Gul’s exclusion has triggered discontent among his supporters, who argue that his political experience and repeated electoral victories warrant representation in the Cabinet. The protest also reflects the expectations of party workers who had anticipated that the veteran leader would be rewarded with a ministerial position.
The developments followed Tuesday’s Cabinet expansion, in which four legislators were inducted into the Omar Abdullah-led government. Gul was not among those sworn in, prompting disappointment among his supporters.
In a subsequent organisational decision, Farooq Abdullah appointed Gul as the National Conference’s general secretary, a key position within the party. The appointment came amid the discontent over his exclusion from the government, although the party leadership has not publicly established a direct link between the two developments.
Gul’s political career
Mubarak Gul is among the National Conference’s veteran leaders and has represented the Eidgah constituency in Srinagar across multiple terms. His electoral victories span 1983, 1996, 2002, 2008, 2014 and 2024, according to published accounts of his political career.
Gul began his political journey as a municipal councillor in 1976 and went on to hold several important positions in the party and the legislature. He served as Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly from 2013 to 2015 and was an adviser to Omar Abdullah during the latter’s earlier tenure as chief minister.
Following the 2024 Assembly elections, Gul was appointed pro-tem Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. He administered the oath to the newly elected legislators before the House proceeded with its regular proceedings.
His exclusion from the Cabinet is therefore significant in the context of his long association with the National Conference and his repeated representation of Eidgah. However, the reasons behind the leadership’s decision not to induct him have not been publicly established.
