With most party leaders back in Congress, Azad's politics at the crossroads

IN barely three years of its founding, the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), founded by former Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad, has become largely nonfunctional, as nearly all leaders who joined from Congress have returned to the parent party.

- FAYAZ WANI @ Srinagar

Azad, the former CM, now has to decide whether to revive the defunct party or withdraw from politics in J&K, where he was a key political player till a few years ago. On November 19, two former ministers Jugal Kishore Sharma and Abdul Majid Wani, along with ex-MLCs Subash Gupta and Brij Mohan Sharma, rejoined Congress after abandoning DPAP. Their return signifies a near-complete reversal of the 2022 exodus, leaving Azad's party with