Ghulam Nabi Azad’s party falls apart: How the cookie crumbled

The disintegration of the DAP, not yet registered with the Election Commission (EC) as a political party, started with last month’s expulsion of Chand, who is a former Deputy chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir; Balwan Singh, who is a former MLA; and former minister Manohar Lal Sharma. Chand and Balwan Singh were also among those who rejoined the Congress on Friday.

It can be attributed to several factors, from the Bharat Jodo Yatra’s impending arrival to Azad giving more importance to leaders from the Chenab region. Many leaders who followed in Azad’s footsteps thought he would emerge as an alternative to the BJP and bring change in Jammu and Kashmir. But they realised he would only divide the secular vote and end up strengthening the BJP’s hand.

The response to the Bharat Jodo Yatra also appears to have influenced these leaders. There is a feeling in the political circles of the Union Territory that the yatra — set to enter Jammu and Kashmir later this month — may improve the Congress’s mass base, given the resentment against the BJP over issues such as rising militancy, unemployment, and an unresponsive bureaucracy.

The leaders now back in the Congress also resented Azad for prioritising leaders from his native Chenab Valley and giving them all the important portfolios in the DAP. They said the veteran leader failed to reduce the clout of a leader such as GM Saroori who is from Chenab. “I tried to convey this to Azad sahib several times, but he never paid heed to it,’’ said an expelled leader.

The Congress took advantage of this dissatisfaction among the DAP’s rank and file and established contact with the disgruntled leaders to convince them to return “home”. These leaders were assured they would be accorded respect in the party and given important party positions in due course of time, said sources.

Sources in the DAP said that though former minister Taj Mohiuddin and former legislators Haji Rashid Dar and Gulzar Wani remain with Azad, the loss of Sayeed was a massive blow to the DAP as he has a good following in the Valley. Sayeed served as the Pradesh Congress Committee president from 2003 to 2007.

Big names back in Congress

A senior DAP leader said the party knew about Sayeed’s impending return to the party, alleging that the former minister was hand in glove with Tara Chand and his group to hijack the party and run it as they saw fit. But, when asked why he was not expelled like Chand, the DAP leader said Peerzada was among those who signed the expulsion order of Chand and the others.

The other prominent names to join the Congress on Friday were former MLC Muzaffar Parrey; Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association president MK Bhardwaj; former minister Bhushan Dogra, who was once the chairperson of the Scheduled Caste Advisory Board; former DAP general secretary Narinder Sharma; the Azad-led party’s Samba block development council chairperson Vijay Targotra; former Kathua and Katra municipal council chairpersons Naresh Sharma and Ambrish Magotra. Dogra was earlier with the PDP while Naresh Sharma was in the BJP. All the others were earlier with the Congress.

Manohar Lal Sharma told The Indian Express that he had decided to remain independent and not join any political party, deferring to the wishes of the people of his Assembly constituency. Lal is a two-time former MLA from Kathua’s Billawar constituency. As crisis engulfed the DAP last month, some senior DAP leaders approached Sharma to convince him to return, admitting that his expulsion was a mistake, sources said.