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Defections bring the future of Ghulam Nabi Azad's party into question

- TARIQ BHAT

GHULAM NABI AZAD'S Democratic Azad Party (DAP) has begun to implode. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister had launched the party after quitting the Congress in August. His supporters, however, have already begun deserting him. More than 30 of his loyalists have rejoined the Congress in the past few weeks, leaving Azad and his party rattled. For the Congress, it has been a shot in the arm as Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra is set to enter the Union territory on January 19.

Azad had positioned the DAP as an alternative to the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir. But the defections to the Congress, and the possibility of more leaders following suit, have dented the party's prospects. On January 6 alone, 17 DAP leaders joined the Congress in Delhi. They included former deputy chief minister and DAP vice chairman Tara Chand, and former ministers Balwan Singh, Manohar Lal Sharma and Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed. They were expelled by the DAP on December 22 for "hobnobbing" with the Congress and engaging in "anti-party activities".

AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal welcomed the leaders, saying it was a happy day for the Congress as they had returned before the start of the Kashmir leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra. "This is only the beginning. When the yatra enters Jammu and Kashmir, all people who follow Congress ideology and those who want a united India will join the party," said Venugopal. "[The leaders who have rejoined] had gone on leave for two months."