Surinder Choudhary, a National Conference MLA from the Nowshera Assembly segment, took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, marking a significant milestone in the Union Territory's politics.
Choudhary's journey to this position began with his victory in the Nowshera constituency, where he defeated outspoken BJP's Ravinder Raina by a substantial margin of 7,819 votes. This win signified a major shift in the constituency's political landscape, as Raina had previously held the seat since 2014.
Surinder Choudhary's political background
Surinder Choudhary started his political journey as a trade union leader. Being president of the non-teaching employees union of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Science and Technology, he was instrumental in launching a movement for the establishment of an agriculture university in the Jammu region. It was the result of his struggle that an agriculture university was established in Jammu region.
After taking voluntary retirement from service, Surinder Choudhary joined the National Conference and later he joined the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) when the party was founded by the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 1999.
In his first electoral battle, Surinder Choudhary contested the Assembly election from the Nowshera segment as a BSP candidate and secured nearly 13,000 votes losing the tough election by a narrow margin.
In 2014 he was again in the fray in the same Assembly segment as a PDP candidate. Despite a strong Move Wave in Hindu belts of Jammu province, Surinder Choudhary secured 27,871 votes against BJP leader Ravinder Raina who got 37, 374 votes after an episode of alleged attack.
In the 2024, Assembly election Surinder Choudhary ultimately won the seat as a candidate of the National Conference by defeating his arch-rival Ravinder Raina, J&K president of BJP.
Surinder Choudhary got 35,069 votes while Ravinder Raina secured 27,250 votes.
Before joining the National Conference, Choudhary was a trusted aide to PDP president Mehbooba Mufti. However, he severed ties with the PDP to join the BJP, only to leave the party after a year due to disagreements over dynastic politics and corruption by the J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina.
Choudhary publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the BJP, stating, "Goodbye BJP… Ravinder Raina enjoys your Parivarvad and corruption," on social media platform 'X'.
During his poll campaign, Choudhary made a strong pitch for granting district status to Nowshera, and his campaign remained focused on Ravinder Raina. To counter the BJP's narrative of nationalism, Surinder Choudhary throughout his campaign highlighted the lack of basic amenities in the Nowshera assembly segment.
In the Lok Sabha elections in June this year, Surinder Choudhary proved his popularity by ensuring the lead of National Conference candidate Mian Altaf from this segment. Nowshera assembly segment is part of the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat.
His victory and subsequent appointment as Deputy Chief Minister have renewed hopes for development and change in the region.
