The Democratic Progressive Azad Party suffered a further setback with its founder Ghulam Nabi Azad expressing his unwillingness to campaign in the ongoing polls. In a statement, Azad cited health reasons for the decision and urged his party leaders, who have filed their nomination forms, to assess whether they can continue without him. Former top Congress leader said he had developed chest pain on the night of August 25 and took the earliest available flight to Delhi and was admitted to AIIMS hospital for two days. If anything, Azad’s message to his party signals the end of his party. If a party floated just two years ago isn’t contesting its first Assembly election, it means it has no intention to stay afloat. The DPAP anyway wasn’t expected to make any serious impact in the election. In the recent Lok Sabha polls too, Azad withdrew his candidature from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat where he was up against the PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti and the NC’s Mian Altaf. He surprisingly did not fight from Udhampur seat in Jammu division, otherwise seen as his stronghold. In the 2019 election, he had lost it to the BJP leader and the union minister Jitendra Singh.
So, what is Azad’s future in J&K politics? As of now, things look very uncertain. Once a powerful national level leader who held top organizational positions in Congress, was a union minister and also J&K Chief Minister, Azad’s politics has now narrowed to areas of Chenab Valley in Jammu. His sudden decision to quit Congress in 2022 has drastically reduced his political profile. And it is difficult to imagine if he could regain it anytime soon, if at all.
However, when Azad floated his own party two years ago, it did generate some stir. Many high-profile Congress leaders with a solid support base, both from Kashmir and Jammu joined him, leaving Congress reeling in the union territory. But subsequently several of them soon returned to Congress in the wake of Rahul Gandhi’s first padyatra, among them Tara Chand, former J&K Deputy Chief Minister.
Where does Azad go from here? There is no easy answer. After some show of strength around the time of the launch of the party, Azad has failed to maintain the political momentum to keep his support base energized. Nor has he spelt out any coherent political narrative. The DPAP is now seen as a secret ally of the BJP and the perception has caught on among the people, making its task of rallying the voters even more challenging, more so, in Kashmir. It would be interesting to see what would be the fate of the DPAP and what new direction Azad’s political journey takes. However, it would have been good, had Azad’s health permitted him to stay on to fight the polls.
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