A Member of the Legislative Assembly (abbreviated MLA) or a Member of the Legislature (abbreviated ML), is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction.

Australia[link]

Members of the Legislative Assembly use the suffix MP in New South Wales^[1] and Queensland.^[2]

In Western Australia, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory, members are known as MLAs. However the suffix MP is also commonly used. South Australia and Tasmania have a House of Assembly and denote its members MHA.

In Victoria members can use either MP or MLA.^[3]

In federal parliament, members of the House of Representatives are designated MP and not MHR.^[4]

Brazil[link]

In Brazil, Members of all 26 Legislative Assemblies (Portuguese: Assembléias Legislativas) are called deputados estaduais (English: statewide deputies). The Federal District Legislative Assembly is actually called Legislative Chamber (Portuguese: Câmara Legislativa), and is composed by deputados distritais (English: district deputies). Unlike the federal legislative body, which is bicameral, Brazilian states legislatures are unicameral. Members of the Lower House are also called deputies, but they are deputados federais (English: federal deputies).

Canada[link]

In Canada, members of legislative assemblies are called MLAs in all provinces and territories except:

• Ontario, where they have been called Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) since 1938 and before 1938 used both MPP and MLA,
• Quebec, where they are called Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) since 1968, and
• Newfoundland and Labrador, where they are called Members of the House of Assembly (MHAs).

Members of the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia (despite being a House of Assembly), Prince Edward Island and in the three territories (Yukon, NWT and Nunavut) are known as MLAs.

Falkland Islands[link]

Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands use the suffix MLA. In 2009 the Legislative Council of the Falkland Islands (which had existed since the 1840s) was replaced with the new Legislative Assembly. As a result, Members of the Legislative Assembly are often still referred to as Councillors.

Hong Kong[link]

Members of Hong Kong Legislative Council are referred to as Legco Councillors.

India[link]

A Member of Legislative Assembly, or MLA, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to the Legislature of a State in the Indian system of government.

Northern Ireland[link]

Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland are known as MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly).

The Assembly was suspended on October 14, 2002 but the persons elected to it at the 2003 Assembly Election were called together on 15 May 2006 under the Northern Ireland Act 2006 ^[5] for the purpose of electing a First Minister and Deputy First Minister and choosing the members of an Executive (before 25 November 2006) as a preliminary to the restoration of devolved government in Northern Ireland. Another election was held on 7 March 2007 and powers were restored to the Assembly in May 2007.

United States of America[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

In the United States of America, legislator is the generic term referring to a member of the legislative body of any of the country's 50 states.

The formal name varies from state to state. In 24 states, the legislature is simply called the Legislature, or the State Legislature, while in 19 states, the legislature is called the General Assembly. In Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the legislature is called the General Court, while North Dakota and Oregon designate the legislature as the Legislative Assembly.

Just as a member of the United States House of Representatives is officially a member of Congress (abbreviated MC) despite being referred as a congressmen or representatives, a legislator in the lower chamber of state legislatures would be a member of the Legislature (abbreviated ML), member of the State Legislature (abbreviated MSL), member of the General Assembly (abbreviated MGA), member of the General Court (abbreviated MGC) or member of the Legislative Assembly (abbreviated MLA) even though they are commonly referred to as representatives or assemblymen.

Further confusion over the proper title of legislators comes when newspapers, using the Associated Press guidelines for journalists, refer to legislators as state representatives or state senators to avoid confusion with federal counterparts.

Wales[link]

Members of the National Assembly for Wales, the devolved Assembly of Wales are usually known as AMs or Aelod y Cynulliad (ACs).^[6]

References[link]

The neutrality of this article's title, subject matter, and/or the title's implications, is disputed. This is a dispute over the neutrality of viewpoints or other implications of the title, or the subject matter within its scope, rather than the actual facts stated. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. (June 2010)

Omar Abdullah (Hindi: उमर अब्दुल्लाह, Urdu: عمر عبدالله), born 10 March 1970, is an Indian Kashmiri politician and the scion of one of the state's most prominent political family, the Abdullah family ^[1][2][3] who became the 11th and the youngest Chief Minister of the northern Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir, after forming a government in coalition with the Congress party, on January 5, 2009.^[3][4]

He was a member of 14th Lok Sabha, representing Srinagar constituency of Jammu and Kashmir, India. He was a Union Minister of State for External affairs in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's NDA government, from July 23, 2001 to December 23, 2002. He resigned from NDA government in October 2002 to concentrate on party work.^[5]

Omar joined politics in 1998, as a Lok Sabha member, a feat he repeated in subsequent three elections and also remained a Union minister; he took on the mantle of National Conference from his father in 2002, though he lost his own seat of Ganderbal during the 2002 state assembly elections, and so did his party, the political mandate; four years later, he contested once again from the same seat and won in the 2008 Kashmir Elections.^[2]

Early life and education[link]

Omar Abdullah was born 10 March 1970. He is the son of Farooq Abdullah and grandson of Sheikh Abdullah, all three of whom have been List of Prime and Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir.^[6] His mother Mollie, a British Christian, and a nurse by profession, was not in favor of him joining politics.^[7] He studied at the Burn Hall School, Srinagar and then at Lawrence School, Sanawar.^[8] He is an alumnus of Sydenham College, Mumbai (where he did his B.Com.).^[9] After that he joined the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, for an MBA, although he did not complete it.^[10]

He married Payal Nath, daughter of an Army officer, Major General Ram Nath from Delhi on September 1, 1994, and the couple have two sons, Zahir and Zamir, hence. They are currently separated.^[11] His younger sister, Sara Abdullah is married to Sachin Pilot, son of Rajesh Pilot.

Political career[link]

Before joining politics, Omar Abdullah worked with ITC Limited in its International Business Division. He was posted in Hyderabad and Mumbai. In 1998, at the age of 29, Omar Abdullah was elected to 12th Lok Sabha, becoming the youngest minister. In 1998-99, he was a member of both the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the Ministry of Tourism's Consultative Committee. In 1999, he was elected to 13th Lok Sabha (2nd term as a Member of Parliament).^[12] On October 13, 1999 he took oath as Union Minister of State, Commerce and Industry. On July 22, 2001, he became the youngest Union Minister, when he was made Union Minister of State for External affairs. He resigned from the post on December 23, 2002, to concentrate on party work. ^[5]

On June 23, 2002, he became the President of the National Conference party, replacing his father, Farooq Abdullah.^[10]

He lost his Ganderbal seat in the Kashmir assembly elections held in September–October 2002.^[13]

Abdullah was re-elected as the National Conference party's president in 2006.

In March 2006, much to the disapproval of the centre^{[citation needed]}, Omar Abdullah had a one-on-one meeting with Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharaf, in Islamabad. This was the first meeting of its kind between a mainstream politician from Jammu & Kashmir and the Pakistani government, thereby re-enforcing Omar's growing commitment to the solution of the Jammu & Kashmir cause. Omar received a rousing reception by thousands of Kashmiris upon his return.^{[citation needed]}

On July 9, 2007, Omar escaped a bid on his life when suspected militants threw two rifle grenades targeted at him. The incident happened when Omar was interacting with party workers at a party leader's house.

On July 22, 2008, Omar gave a passionate speech during the 2008 Lok Sabha vote of confidence,^[14] which was praised by almost all quarters, and even won him fans on the internet.^[15][16] He was also seen briefly, playing himself, in director Apoorva Lakhia’s film, Mission Istanbul (2008), based on international terrorism.^[17]

After the 2008 Kashmir Elections, the National Conference won the maximum number of seats, and formed a coalition government with the Congress party, and Omar was sworn in as the 11th Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on January 5, 2009 at the General Zoravar Singh Stadium in the University of Jammu, Jammu, raising hope amongst the people of Jammu and Kashmir who had been reeling under insurgency and violence since 1989.^[18]

Criticism[link]

After Abdullah assumed the office of Chief Minister on 5 January 2009, the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir deteriorated.

Within his first six months in the office, Indian Paramilitary Forces, specifically the Central Reserve Police Force, were accused of killing at least fifteen civilians, including three women whom they were also accused of raping.^[19] The first killing took place barely a few hundred meters away from the residence of Omar Abdullah, only two days after he was sworn in as Chief Minister of the state. The victim, Abdul Rashid Rishi, 45, a deaf man from South Kashmir’s Pahalgam, was shot dead by the Central Reserve Police Force on January 7, 2009.^[20] The killings at Bomai, Khaigam, Baramulla and the rape and murder of two young women in Shopian invoked severe public anger, and resulted in valley-wide protests, and reiterated demands for freedom and removal of Indian Paramilitary Forces from Jammu and Kashmir.

In the subsequent days, hundreds of protesters, including opposition leaders, were beaten up, and many were arrested or detained under a controversial Public Safety Act. On 8 July 2009 alone, PTI reported that "...police has arrested over 320 people..." who according to police were "fomenting trouble".^[21] Police slapped minor charges of disturbing peace to serious offences like that under section 307 (attempt of murder) on those arrested.^[22] An editorial in Greater Kashmir noted about this situation that "...ever since the new government took over the state administration has not only been handling every situation ineptly but also ridiculously... (administration) has been detaining and slapping Public Safety Acts against the voices of dissent and disagreement on absurd and ludicrous grounds that have made it a laughing stock within and outside the state...".^[23] According to official statistics, 554 persons were detained under PSA in Jammu and Kashmir from January 2008 to August 2009. Ironically, the Law and parliamentary affairs minister, Ali Mohammad Sagar said that invoking of PSA is necessary for running the affairs of the State.^[24]

Omar Abdullah was also accused of covering up the rape and murder of two young women in Shopian, which was allegedly perpetrated by Indian Paramilitary Forces.^[19] Many regarded this as Abdullah's first failure, as even moderates felt Abullah had bowed to pressure from New Delhi.^[25] A. G. Noorani, a prominent lawyer and a commentator on regional affairs stated that Abdullah "needed prodding by the Centre even to order registration of a First Information Report... this testifies the gravity of Omar Abdullah’s lapses... (and) reveals the mindset that he will follow the tradition firmly established by his father, Farooq Abdullah..."^[26]

Conversely, there have been claims that the two women who were found dead were not raped and/or murdered. The CBI has said in its chargesheet filed before a court in Srinagar that Aasiya was a virgin and that both women drowned. The CBI investigation has declared that doctors in the district hospital had fiddled with the port-mortem report and fabricated evidence to implicate the security forces. However, majority of media opinion and that of the public is against this view, who regards this defense as a mere cover-up for the case. The case is still ongoing.^[27]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website

v t e Current Chief Ministers of Indian states (list)     Andhra Pradesh: Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy Arunachal Pradesh: Nabam Tuki Assam: Tarun Gogoi Bihar: Nitish Kumar Chhattisgarh: Raman Singh Goa: Manohar Parrikar Gujarat: Narendra Modi Haryana: Bhupinder Singh Hooda Himachal Pradesh: Prem Kumar Dhumal Jammu and Kashmir: Omar Abdullah Jharkhand: Arjun Munda Karnataka: D. V. Sadananda Gowda Kerala: Oommen Chandy Madhya Pradesh: Shivraj Singh Chauhan Maharashtra: Prithviraj Chavan Manipur: Okram Ibobi Singh Meghalaya: Mukul Sangma Mizoram: Pu Lalthanhawla Nagaland: Neiphiu Rio Orissa: Naveen Patnaik Punjab: Parkash Singh Badal Rajasthan: Ashok Gehlot Sikkim: Pawan Kumar Chamling Tamil Nadu: Jayalalithaa Tripura: Manik Sarkar Uttar Pradesh: Akhilesh Yadav Uttarakhand: Vijay Bahuguna West Bengal: Mamata Banerjee Delhi: Sheila Dikshit Pondicherry: N. Rangaswamy