By Rameez Makhdoomi*
Srinagar: The resignation of veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad from the Congress Party yesterday is interesting in the sense that it is bringing flower bouquets on its way for him, and with it, important Congress leaders in Jammu and Kashmir are switching loyalties to him.
A day after the veteran leader left the Congress Party, the ripple effects are being felt across the Kashmir valley and will likely have far-reaching impacts on the political landscape of Jammu and Kashmir.
The biggest surprise came within 24 hours when the Congress stalwart Gulzar Ahmad Wani, a former MLA from Shangus, was seen presenting a flower bouquet to Azad in New Delhi, today. Wani was once considered a close aide of Ghulam Ahmad Mir, who is still among the top leaders of Congress in Jammu and Kashmir and considered during his time a rival of Azad within the party.
Also read: Will Azad ruin the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir?
Congress stalwart from Chenab and former MLA from Inderwal constituency in Kishtwar District GM Saroori, Congress top leader from North Kashmir and former MLA of Apple Town Sopore Haji Abdul Rashid, Former MLA Devsar in Kulgam District of South Kashmir Mohd Amin Bhat, Former MLA of Shangus in Anantnag District of South Kashmir Gulzar Ahmad Wani, and Choudhary Mohammad Akram former MLA of Lasana and a strong Congress leader from Pir Panjal district of Poonch tendered their resignations from the primary membership of the Congress “in support of Ghulam Nabi Azad” on Friday, August 26, 2022.
Salman Nizami, a youthful face of the Congress on National TV debates from Kashmir valley also resigned from the Congress Party and took to social media micro-blogging site Twitter to tweet: ” I dissociate myself from the Congress Party, in support of my leader Ghulam Nabi Azad Sahib. I gave my blood, sweat and toil to Congress. Faced slander & detention for standing up for the ideals of the party. And how does Congress treat us? Humiliated & disrespected. We have zero say .”
Statistically speaking in the last Assembly elections when Jammu and Kashmir had functional article 370 and statehood, in an 87-member J&K Assembly, out of the 10 seats won by Congress in areas of Jammu and Kashmir, 9 were bagged by the loyalists of Ghulam Nabi Azad be it at Devsar Assembly seat and Shangus in South Kashmir, Gool Arnas or Inderwal in Chenab region. (The Congress had also won 2 seats from Ladakh which was part of the state then).
Against this backdrop, the Congress Party, already in shambles in the valley seems a suffer with the exit of Azad at a time when the Election Commission has stated that the final electoral roll will be published on November 25, 2022, after which elections to Jammu and Kashmir Assembly would take any time.
These would be the first elections of Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of article 370 and its conversion into Union territory. The Delimitation of the seating process has already been completed in Jammu and Kashmir and as per the final delimitation report which was released on May 5, 2022, under which additional 6 seats are added to the Jammu region and 1 seat to the Kashmir valley, taking the total tally to 90 seats. The final delimitation report came into force on May 20, 2022.
The Chenab region gets 9 Assembly seats post-delimitation, and the Azad factor is expected to remain strong in this entire region, especially in the assembly seats of the Doda and Banihal divisions. In the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Azad and his loyalists were able to win a number of seats from the Doda District, and Banihal also had a considerable support base, especially in Kokernag, Shangus, and Anantnag constituencies.
The grapevine in some quarters is that cordial relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi s also a plus point for Azad as the Chenab region, though traditionally a Congress bastion, also has a sizeable presence of the National Conference and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Tanveer Ahmad Bhat, a political analyst from the Doda district of the Chenab region, told Global Bihari that Azad roughly enjoyed 35 to 40 per cent support in the Chenab region and the rest of the votes were divided largely between the National Conference and the BJP. Azad had a loyal vote bank and that helped the Congress in the Chenab region. Incidentally, the People’s Democratic Party was never a factor in the Chenab region even when its founder Mufti Mohammad Syed was Chief Minister he had only a very small percentage of support in the Chenab region.
“Now after his resignation, all strong faces like Saroori are leaving the Congress to join Azad, who has given all indications that he will form his own party. It looks Azad’s resignation has almost wiped out the Congress Party from Jammu and Kashmir” Bhat said.
On the other hand of the spectrum, when in 2008 Amarnath land row over the transfer of land to Amarnath shrine Board protests had broken throughout Jammu and Kashmir voicing opposite views and resulting in killings of scores of persons injuring hundreds, Ghulam Nabi Azad had to resign as Chief Minister feeling backstabbing by coalition partner PDP, much water has flown since then as BJP government at the Centre got Article 370 abrogated and turned Jammu and Kashmir into Union territory creating political earthquakes. Can Azad now write a new chapter in a totally changed Jammu and Kashmir? It will be at the Congress Party’s cost though.
Top Photo: Gulzar Wani, a former Congress MLA from Shangus, presents bouquet to Ghulam Nabi Azad in New Delhi today.
*Senior Journalist
