Democratic Progressive Party Azad (DPAP) Chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad addresses the Lok Sabha election meeting in Anantnag on April 24. | Photo source: ANI
The Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), a party launched by former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad that enjoys much publicity, failed to make a significant impression in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
DPAP candidates managed to get only 80,264 votes from three Lok Sabha constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir with around 54 lakh voters. This was Azad’s first election trip to Jammu and Kashmir after quitting the Congress in 2022 and launching his own party later that year.
A needy return
Official data suggests that Amir Ahmad Bhat, the DPAP candidate from the Srinagar seat, secured only 15,104 votes, which is just 2.24 votes. Mr. Azad’s close associate, Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, polled 39,599 votes from Udhampur constituency, which was just 3.56% of the votes. Mohammad Saleem Parray, contesting from Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, secured 25,561 votes, which is just 2.49% vote share.
Officials said all DPAP candidates lost their deposits in Jammu and Kashmir. The needy performance came despite Mr Azad’s agitation in all the three seats he contested. He organized dozens of election rallies across the length and breadth of the Union Territory (UT).
Mr. Azad’s poll narrative revolved around three issues: statehood, development and the bad policies of the Abdullahs and Muftis. However, his first speech in Baramulla in 2023, in which he defined Art. 370 as a done and dusty affair, sparked a edged reaction from regional parties.
Many people saw Mr. Azad as a political leader who would create an alternative politics to regional parties, especially the Abdullahs and Muftis in Jammu and Kashmir. However, DPAP does not seem to have left a mark on its narrative in the last elections.
