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| Behind the scenes, Azad nudging loyalists toward other political homes | | | sandeep bhat
Early Times Report
Jammu, Nov 20: The return of three senior leaders of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) to the Congress has intensified speculation that Ghulam Nabi Azad himself is quietly nudging his loyalists to seek political rehabilitation elsewhere. With the former Chief Minister appearing to withdraw from active politics, insiders say he does not want the careers of his long-time supporters to wither within a party that is rapidly losing relevance.
In a significant setback for the three-year-old DPAP, former ministers Jugal Kishore Sharma (Reasi) and Abdul Majid Wani (Doda), along with former MLC Subash Gupta (Kathua), rejoined the Congress on Wednesday in the presence of its top leadership. All three have been staunch loyalists of Azad for decades. Their exit comes months after another prominent aide, Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, returned to the Congress on June 27.
Despite DPAP leader Salman Nizami dismissing the trio as “deadwood,” both Sharma and Wani remain influential mass leaders in their regions. In the 2024 Assembly elections, Sharma lost the Mata Vaishno Devi seat by fewer than 2,000 votes, while Wani secured a respectable vote share in Doda outperforming many other DPAP candidates.
Founded on September 26, 2022, in the aftermath of Azad’s departure from the Congress, DPAP was projected as a regional alternative for Jammu and Kashmir — particularly in the post-Article 370 landscape. But three years later, the party appears to have hit a political cul-de-sac.
The signs of decline began early. On January 6, 2023, seventeen of Azad’s trusted colleagues — including former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand and ex-Congress president Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed — returned to the Congress. Four days l Ghulam Nabi Azad is appearing to withdraw from active politics.
Azad does not want the careers of his long-time supporters to wither within a party that is losing relevance.
Former ministers Jugal Kishore Sharma (Reasi) and Abdul Majid Wani (Doda), along with former MLC Subash Gupta (Kathua), rejoined the Congress on Wednesday.
On September 7, 2024 veteran loyalist Dr. Manohar Lal Sharma returned to the Congress to contest the Assembly polls from Billawar.
On June 27, 2025, former ministers Ghulam Mohiuddin Saroori and Taj Mohiuddin — two of Azad’s closest confidants also returned to the Congress fold.
The party’s electoral performance deepened its troubles. DPAP failed to win even a single seat in both the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Of the 23 Assembly seats it contested, five candidates secured fewer votes than NOTA — a stark reflection of the party’s waning public appeal.
In what many saw as an admission of internal collapse, Azad dissolved all DPAP committees state, provincial, zonal, district, and block — on April 14, 2025. While the official line described the move as “restructuring,” political observers called it a desperate attempt to revive a sinking organisation.
“The dissolution was less restructuring and more surrender,” said a senior political analyst. “Most leaders had either defected or gone silent. The party was hollowed out from within.”
Azad, meanwhile, has remained active on the national and international stage, had participated in India’s all-party delegations to Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria. But his prolonged absence from regional politics has further weakened DPAP leadership on the ground.
With his once-trusted lieutenants either returning to Congress or withdrawing from public life, DPAP today stands hollow and directionless. As one former member who recently returned to the Congress remarked: “There’s no direction, no strategy, and no momentum. Most DPAP leaders are in political hibernation.” |
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