Qamar ul Islam (27 January 1948 – 18 September 2017), was an Indian politician who was the Six-term Member of the Karnataka Legislative assembly, one-term Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Kalaburagi and All India Congress Committee secretary (AICC) in-charge of Kerala. He served as the Cabinet Minister for Housing and Labour, Minister of Municipal Administration, Public Enterprises and Minister of Wakf and the MLA from Kalaburagi-North constituency for the state of Karnataka.
Early life and education Qamar ul Islam was born to Noorul Islam in Kalaburagi. He completed his Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from PDA College of Engineering, Kalaburagi. He first stood in elections in PDA and became the president of the students' union, becoming the first and last Muslim student to hold the post of students' union president in PDA College.
Political career He was a six-time MLA from the state of Karnataka. He started his political career with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in 1978 and was elected to Karnataka Legislative Assembly during the terms 1978–83, 1989–1994, 1994–96, 1999–2004, 2008–2013 and 2013–2017. He was a Member of Parliament from 1996 to 1998 and also the cabinet minister for Housing and Labour in the administration led by Chief Minister S.M. Krishna from October 1999 to May 2004. He also served as cabinet minister for Municipal administration, Public Enterprises, Minority Development and waqf led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah cabinet from May 2013 to June 2016.
Personal life He was professionally an engineer. Dr Qamar ul Islam was passionate about Urdu and he also wrote Shayari sometimes. Throughout his life, he has presided in various Urdu literary programs.
Positions held +#FromToPositionParty1.19781983MLA (1st term) from Gulbarga Member of the Public Accounts Committee (1979-1982)Independent2.19891994MLA (2nd term) from Gulbarga Member of the Estimates Committee (1990-1992) Member of the Public Accounts Committee (1992-1993) Member of the Committee on Petitions (1993-1994)Muslim League3.1994 -MLA (3rd term) from Gulbarga Member of the Committee on Housing and Urban Development (1994-1996)Congress4.19961998MP in 11th Lok Sabha from GulbargaJanata Dal5.19992004MLA (4th term) from GulbargaCongress6.20082013MLA (5th term) from Gulbarga NorthCongress7.20132017MLA (6th term) from Gulbarga NorthCongress Electoral History Legislative Assembly Year ConstituencyParty Votes % OpponentParty Votes % Result Margin % 2013Gulbarga Uttar 50,498 48.17 Nasir Hussain Ustad 30,377 28.97 +20,121 +19.20 2008 54,123 54.26 B. G. Patil 39,168 39.27 +14,955 +14.99 2004Gulbarga 78,845 46.00Dattatraya C. Patil Revoor 74,645 48.58 +4,200 -2.58 1999 79,225 48.84 67,446 41.58 +11,779 +7.26 1994 58,719 44.37 Shashil G. Namoshi 40,829 30.85 +17,890 +13.52 1989 55,801 43.15S. K. Kanta 51,204 39.60 +4,597 +3.55 1985 35,794 40.24 36,828 41.40 -1,034 -1.16 1983 23,515 33.92 25,503 36.79 -1,988 -2.87 1978 18,005 32.80 Ustad Sadat Hussain 17,242 31.41 +763 +1.39 Lok Sabha Year ConstituencyParty Votes % OpponentParty Votes % Result Margin % 1998Gulbarga 1,97,184 26.80Sedam Baswaraj Patil 3,28,982 44.72 -1,31,798 -17.92 1996 2,03,521 35.90 1,87,976 33.16 +15,545 +2.74
Death Qamar ul Islam died on 18 September 2017 at a hospital in Bengaluru due to cardiogenic shock and multi-organ failure. He was admitted to the hospital 11 days earlier following cellulitis of the leg. His funeral procession was attended by Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, Mallikarjun Kharge and others.
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