Abdul Rashid Dar

The Honourable Abdul Rashid Dar MLA, MLC
AR Dar (right) with President of India APJ Abdul Kalam at SKICC Srinagar.
Chairman, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council
In office 2001–2008
Governor	Girish Chandra Saxena Srinivas Kumar Sinha Narinder Nath Vohra
Chief Minister	Farooq Abdullah Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Ghulam Nabi Azad
Deputy	P Namgyal
Succeeded by	Ghulam Nabi Lone
Deputy Chairman, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council
In office 1998–2001
Member of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly
In office 1987–1990
Governor	Jagmohan
Chief Minister	Farooq Abdullah
Preceded by	Maqbool Dar
Succeeded by	Abdul Majid
Constituency	Shangus
Member of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council
In office 1996–2008
Personal details
Born	(1949-04-13)13 April 1949
Died	28 February 2020(2020-02-28) (aged 70) Srinagar, India
Political party	Jammu Kashmir National Conference

Abdul Rashid Dar was a politician and lawyer from the state of Jammu & Kashmir, who served as the chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council. Throughout his career Dar held several senior positions in the government. The Secretary General of the upper house of Indian Parliament R.C Tripathi in his book "Bicameralism Today" defines Dar as the lawyer with a shining career.". Dar started his career with the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference when he won the election from Shangus Anantnag and became MLA. Dar holds distinction for being the only chairman to have won two consecutive terms. He also remains the longest serving chairman of Jammu and Kashmir.

Political career

In 1987 Dar contested in the assembly election from the Shangus seat of Anantnag district, defeating Maqbool Dar, who served as the Home minister (Mos) of India, Dar won the election and was elected MLA as a member of the National Conference representing the Shangus constituency of Anantnag. He served in the state assembly till the government was dismissed and the assembly was dissolved by Jagmohan the governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Later on in 1996 Dar was elected to the upper house the state Legislative council .

Legislative Council

Abdul Rashid Dar as the chairman presiding over a meeting of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council.

A.R Dar was elected to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative council in 1996 as a member, just after two years he was elected as the deputy chairman of the house serving for a brief period. Even though he did not belong to the ruling party at that time Dar won another term in the council in 2001, in the same year he contested the election for the seat of the chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative council, winning the election this time too, he became the Chairman of the council. Dar and the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference parted ways in 2004. Dar remained independent while also continuing to be the chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council.

Positions Held

Public offices

Dar has held the following positions;

Year	Description
1987	MLA J&K Legislative Assembly
1996	Elected to J&K Legislative Council
1998	Deputy Chairman J&K Legislative Council
2001	Elected to J&K Legislative Council (2nd term)
2001	Chairman J&K Legislative Council
2002	Chairman J&K Legislative Council (Re-elected) 3rd Term

No Confidence Motion

In 2004 a No confidence motion was moved against Chairman Dar, the motion was introduced in the legislative council, the proceedings of the house were led by the deputy chairman Namgyal , the voting was conducted and once again Dar emerged as the winner and continued his term as the Chairman till 2009. After a continuous winning streak from 1987 Dar relinquished all offices in 2009. Dar died on 28 February 2020. His death was termed as a great loss for Jammu and Kashmir. Dar had earned respect and admiration from his political opponents as well. All major leaders of Jammu and Kashmir including former Minister and founder of "Apni Party" Syed Muhammad Altaf Bukhari, MLA Pahalgam Rafi Ahmad Mir, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president, G.A Mir, Former Minister and ex State Congress president, Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed, Ex MLA Shangus, Gulzar Ahmad Wani, CPI (M) senior leader, Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, Hakeem Muhamamd Yaseen, Ghulam Hassan Mir, Manzoor Ganie and Chairman Political Migrants Front, Sheikh Mohi-ud Din, Shabnam, JK National Conference spokesman Imran Nabi Dar also, expressed profound grief and shock over his demise.