A staunch loyalist of the Gandhi family, Ghulam [Images] Nabi Azad's nomination as the next chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir [Images] marks the return of the Congress as head of the J&K government after 30 years.

Considered an 'ace-survivor', the 56-year-old veteran politician from Doda district of Jammu has seen many ups and downs of the Congress during his three decade-old association with the party.

Beginning his career at the block level as secretary, Azad came close to Sanjay Gandhi in the early 1970s and moved up the ladder fast to occupy key positions in the party and governments led by it. While maintaining his close association with the Gandhi family, he remained the confidante of all the Congress presidents, including P V Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Kesri.

Azad, who scripted the party's success in the last Assembly elections in J&K, will be the first chief minister from Jammu, fulfilling a long-pending demand repeatedly aired from the winter capital.

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Hailing from a village in Baderwah in Doda district, Azad, the father of two children, had been a minister at the Centre in the governments of Indira Gandhi [Images], Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao.

His tryst with politics began in 1973, soon after he acquired Masters degree in Science, when he became secretary of block Congress committee of Bhalesa. He became the president of J&K Pradesh Youth Congress in 1975 and remained so for two years, till the Emergency ended.

Azad became a member of the Congress Executive Committee of the J&K unit in 1975. In 1980, he came onto the national scene in the party as he became president of All India Youth Congress.

In the same year, he married the renowned Kashmiri singer Shameema Dev.

The year also marked his entry into Parliament, as he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Washim in Maharashtra.

Azad joined the Union Council of Ministers in 1982 as deputy minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs. After a year, he got the portfolio of Information and Broadcasting.

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