Four-Time Minister and Former JKPCC Chief Peerzada Mohd Syeed to Contest Assembly Election from Anantnag
By Sameer Ahmad
Anantnag,September 02: Senior Congress leader Peerzada Mohd Syeed, born on August 27, 1953, in Takia Damhal, approximately 12 kilometers from Anantnag town, is among the 14 candidates contesting the upcoming Assembly election in the newly delineated Anantnag Main constituency.
Syeed began his political career in 1971 and was appointed General Secretary of the Pradesh Youth Congress in 1975. His family has a political background, with his uncle, Peer Hisamudeen, serving as an MLA and MLC for the Kokernag constituency in 1965. However, his father, Peerzada Mohd Yousuf, was a religious figure, and his mother, Marsa Begum, was a housewife, neither of whom were affiliated with any political party.
In 1977, Sanjay Gandhi appointed Syeed as the President of the Jammu and Kashmir Youth Congress. By 1982, he had been entrusted with the roles of General Secretary of both the Pradesh Congress Committee and the Youth Congress Committee.
Syeed contested his first Assembly election in 1986 from the Kokernag constituency, securing a victory with a margin of 32,000 votes. Following this win, he was appointed as the Minister for Education and Social Welfare. However, the Assembly was dissolved in 1990 by Governor Jagmohan, a month after his appointment.
Despite losing the Assembly election in 1996, Syeed made a strong comeback in 2002, winning the Kokernag seat with a significant margin. He was subsequently appointed Minister for Rural Development and Education. In the 2008 Assembly election, he won again by a large margin and was appointed Minister for Education, Hajj, and Auqaf. Over his extensive political career, Syeed held various key positions, including leadership roles in Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Science & Technology, Information Technology, Urban Development, Communications & IT, Public Enterprises, Haj & Auqaf, Education, Floriculture, and Sports & Youth Services.
During his tenure, Syeed introduced and implemented numerous government schemes on the ground, such as SSA, RT, and the Midday Meal program in schools. He played a pivotal role in modernizing villages, constructing Panchayat buildings, and upgrading educational infrastructure. Under his leadership, many primary schools were upgraded to middle schools, and middle schools to high schools, particularly in remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir.
Despite his successes, Syeed lost the 2014 Assembly election, with PDP’s Abdul Rahim Rather winning by a margin of approximately 10,000 votes.
Following the recent delimitation process, which has significantly redrawn the electoral boundaries in Anantnag district, the Anantnag Main constituency is now home to about 65,000 voters. The Congress Party has again given its mandate to Peerzada Mohd Syeed to contest the Assembly election from this new constituency.
