Ghulam Nabi Azad will not contest Lok Sabha polls

Democratic Progressive Party (DPAP) chairman and former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the party will not participate in the Lok Sabha elections. Azad is expected to contest from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat in Jammu and Kashmir.

Anantnag’s campaign is expected to be the first test of his popularity in Jammu and Kashmir since he quit the Congress party in 2022.

On April 2, DPAP announced that Azad will contest from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat.

Today, the Democratic Action Party said Mr Azad had a number of reasons for not running – although the party did not make these reasons public.

DPAP Kashmir provincial president Mohammad Amin Bhat said he gave “some reasons” at an internal meeting. The party then decided to oust Mohammad Saleem Parry from the seat.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti and senior National Conference leader Mian Altaf will now face off on the Anantnag-Rajori seat.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference chief Omar Abdullah accused Azad of following the BJP’s playbook.

Mr Azad told reporters last week that he had “got instructions” from the BJP, when the former Congress leader said he might not contest the upcoming polls.

“It’s very clever for his party to announce this and try to backtrack and say he hasn’t made up his mind yet,” Abdullah said.