With most party leaders back in Congress, Azads politics at the crossroads

SRINAGAR: In barely three years of its founding, the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), founded by former Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad, has become largely non-functional, as nearly all leaders who joined from Congress have returned to the parent party. Azad, the former CM, now has to decide whether to revive the defunct party or withdraw from politics in J&K, where he was a key political player till a few years ago. On November 19, two former ministers Jugal Kishore Sharma and Abdul Majid Wani, along with ex-MLCs Subash Gupta and Brij Mohan Sharma, rejoined Congress after abandoning DPAP. Their return signifies a near-complete reversal of the 2022 exodus, leaving Azads party with only three active membersAzad himself, party general secretary and former minister R S Chib, and spokesperson Salman Nizami. The downfall of DPAP started after its disappointing performance in the 2024 J&K Assembly polls. The party had contested 23 out of 90 Assembly seats but failed to win a single seat. The party also drew a blank in five parliamentary seats from J&K and fared very badly in the polls. Due to his proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the parties in J&K had been accusing Azad of being BJPs A, B and C team and working for interests of the saffron party. With his perception of new political venture being a failure, an embattled Azad now faces a moment of reckoning. DPAPs Chib said, Whether the party will continue or be dissolved, the decision lies with Azad. The party has survived solely on Azads stature. He attributed part of the partys collapse to Azads illness during Assembly polls and betrayal of senior leaders who abandoned him for Congress.