PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Surinder Kumar Choudhary
Surinder Kumar Choudhary
1st Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir (Union Territory)
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 16 October 2024
Lieutenant Governor	Manoj Sinha
Chief Minister	Omar Abdullah
Preceded by	President's rule
Ministry and Departments	Incumbent
Additional ministries
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 16 October 2024
Ministry and Departments	Public Works (R&B); Industries; Commerce; Mining; Labour & Employment; Skill Development;
Preceded by	President's rule
Member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 8 October 2024
Preceded by	Ravinder Raina
Constituency	Nowshera
Personal details
Born	1968 (age 57); Nowshera, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Political party	Jammu and Kashmir National Conference
Other political; affiliations	People's Democratic Party (PDP)
Residence	Village Nonial, Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir
Profession	Politician

Surinder Choudhary was born in a Hindu Jat family in 1968. He is an Indian politician, currently serving as the deputy chief minister of the Jammu and Kashmir since 16 October 2024.^[1] He has been a member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly since 8 October 2024, representing the Nowshera assembly constituency as a member of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. Choudhary previously served as a member of the Legislative Council (MLC) from the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP).^[2]^[3]

Career

Before joining politics, Choudhary was an employee of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu. He contested his first Assembly election in 2009 from Nowshera. In 2014 elections, he was a Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party candidate for Nowshera assembly constituency and lost to Ravinder Raina of BJP by a margin of 10000 votes.^[4] In April 2022, Choudhary resigned from PDP and joined BJP. He was general secretary of PDP at the time of his resignation. Choudhary cited reasons such as "people's love and affection" for delimitation under BJP government which divided Nowshera and Sunderbani into two distinct assembly constituencies.^[4] However, he quit BJP to join National Conference in July 2023, accusing Raina of "promoting family" and "corruption".^[5]^[4]

In 2024 Assembly election, Choudhary contested again from Nowshera as a National Conference candidate and polled a total of 35,069 votes, defeating Ravinder Raina by a margin of 7819 votes.^[6]

Deputy chief minister

On 16 October 2024, Choudhary was sworn in as the deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in a ceremony held at Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC). The ceremony was presided over by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. Choudhary was joined by Sakeena Masood, Javid Ahmad Dar, Javed Ahmed Rana and Satish Sharma on the dais to take the oath of office as ministers.^[7] On 18 October 2024, an order was issued by Lieutenant Governor Sinha to allocate portfolios to council of ministers on the advice of chief minister. Choudhary was given the charge of Public Works (R&B), Industries and Commerce, Mining, Labour and Employment, and Skill Development.^[8]

Electoral performance

Election	Constituency		Result	Votes %	Opposition Candidate		Opposition vote %	Ref
2024	Nowshera	JKNC	Won	54.16%	Ravinder Raina	BJP	42.09%	^[9]
2014	Nowshera	JKPDP	Lost	36.92%	Ravinder Raina	BJP	49.51%	^[10]
2008	Nowshera	BSP	Lost	19.54%	Radhay Sham Sharma	JKNC	26.47%	^[11]