As most of his loyalists have deserted his party over the past two years, former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has shifted his focus to a non-political platform without formally announcing the "winding up" of his Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP).
Since the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections in October 2024, not a single event or function of the DPAP has been held in any part of the Union Territory.
Instead of convening party meetings, Ghulam Nabi Azad has intensified the activities of the Gandhi Global Family (GGF) across various regions of Jammu and Kashmir.
Following Operation Sindoor, Azad, in his capacity as president of the GGF, dispatched a relief consignment for families affected by Pakistani shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district.
The aid, organized by the GGF Women's Wing in Jammu, included essential items such as sanitary pads for women, biscuits, and sports equipment for children.
Two staunch supporters of Azad rejoin Congress
Two loyalists of Ghulam Nabi Azad—Taj Mohi-ud-Din from Uri (Baramulla) and Ghulam Mohammad Saroori from Inderwal (Doda)—rejoined the Congress Party on June 27. Both are former ministers and founding members of the DPAP.
Following their return, reports suggest that two other former ministers—Jugal Kishore Sharma from Reasi and Abdul Majid Wani from Doda—are also in touch with the Congress leadership for a possible "Ghar Wapsi."
Taj Mohi-ud-Din, a former MLA from Uri in North Kashmir, and Saroori, the former vice president of DPAP from the Jammu region, were welcomed back into the Congress fold at the party's Srinagar office by AICC general secretary Naseer Hussain and JKPCC president Tariq Hameed Karra.
Azad floated a new political party on September 26, 2022
Notably, on September 26, 2022, Ghulam Nabi Azad launched a new political party under the name Democratic Progressive Azad Party in Jammu. He also unveiled the flag of the new party.
Flanked by former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand and ex-minister Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, Azad—who had served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha—formally announced the party's launch.
Azad had snapped his 50-year-long association with the Congress Party on August 26, 2022, describing the party as "comprehensively destroyed" and blaming Rahul Gandhi for "demolishing" its consultative mechanisms.
On December 22, 2022, the DPAP suffered a major setback when three top leaders—former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, former minister Manohar Lal Sharma, and Balwan Singh—were expelled for alleged anti-party activities.
Subsequently, on January 6, 2023, at least seventeen loyalists of Ghulam Nabi Azad, including two political heavyweights who had earlier been expelled from the DPAP, rejoined the Congress Party in New Delhi.
Among them were former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, former J&K Congress chief Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, ex-MLA Thakur Balwan Singh, and several others.
Dismal electoral performance in 2024
The performance of Azad's party in the 2024 Lok Sabha and Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections was dismal. DPAP failed to win a single seat. In the Assembly elections, it contested 23 seats but drew a blank. Notably, five of its candidates polled fewer votes than NOTA, signaling a clear and resounding rejection by the voters.
