Azad to file papers on April 18 or 19: DPAP
A day after former J&K chief minister and Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chairperson Ghulam Nabi Azad said he was “undecided” about contesting Lok Sabha polls from the Anantnag parliamentary constituency, a party spokesperson on Monday claimed that Azad would file his nomination either on April 18 or 19 from the same seat.
On Sunday, the Peoples Democratic Party announced that party president and former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti as its candidate from the Anantnag seat.
Azad, while talking to mediapersons in Udhampur on Sunday evening, said, “I have been thinking so, but my party has announced. However, I will decide. There is no final decision as yet.”
Following Azad’s remarks, the DPAP was quick to clarify on what Azad actually “meant’.
“Ghulam Nabi Azad sahib meant that until the formal process of filing the nomination papers is completed, the candidate’s status remains uncertain. However, our confirmed candidate for Anantnag-Rajouri seat is our chairman, Ghulam Nabi Azad sahib, filing nominations on either 18th or 19th April. Please disregard any rumors!”, party spokesperson Salman Nizami wrote on micro-blogging platform X.
With rapid developments taking place on the political landscape, the Anantnag parliamentary constituency is all set for triangular contest between National Conference’s Mian Altaf, a popular Gujjar leader, and former CMs Mehbooba and Azad.
On April 3, Azad’s candidature was announced by DPAP treasurer and former minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din in Srinagar.
“Today, core committee of our party met and we have decided that our president Ghulam Nabi Azad will contest Lok Sabha polls from Anantnag Lok Sabha seat,” Mohi-ud-Din had said. After resigning from Congress in 2022, Azad formed his own party a year later and has been holding a series of rallies across J&K.
Since then, Azad has been successful in roping in several former Congress legislators in his party.
The Anantnag Lok Sabha seat will go to the polls on May 7 in the third phase of voting.