Journalist-turned-banker Haseeb Drabu becomes Minister in Mufti Government

Haseeb Drabu, an economist and former chairman of Jammu and Kashmir bank, was inducted on Sunday in the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led government and is tipped to get the finance portfolio. Drabu, who holds a PhD degree in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, was part of the PDP negotiation team that held talks with BJP over the formation of government in the state.

Born in 1961, Drabu had contested and won last year's Assembly elections from Rajpora segment in south Kashmir. Drabu, in 1990, joined the perspective planning division of the Planning Commission of India. After that he became a consultant to the Economic Advisory Council of the Prime Minister. He then joined media and became the editor at the Business Standard; he also served as a consultant to the Asia Development Bank.

In January 2003 the then Mufti Moahmmed Sayeed-led government in the state appointed him as the economic advisor. Later in 2005, he was appointed chairman and the CEO of Jammu and Kashmir bank. Drabu who was considered as a loyalist of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was forced to resign after Omar Abdullah-led National Conference took over the region of power in the state.

He formally joined the Peoples Democratic Party in 2014 and contested Assembly poll.