Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief Ghulam Nabi Azad will not contest the Lok Sabha elections from Anantnag-Rajouri, the party said on Wednesday. DPAP said Azad has some reasons not to contest, though the party did not make them public.
DPAP's provincial president, Kashmir, Mohammad Amin Bhat said the party has now decided to field its leader Mohammad Saleem Parray from the seat.
"A meeting took place with Azad and it was decided that advocate Saleem Parray will be the DPAP candidate for the Anantnag-Rajouri seat," Bhat said.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference senior leader Mian Altaf are contesting from the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary seat. The contest was expected to be the first test of Azad’s popularity since he resigned from Congress and floated his new party in 2022.
On April 2, DPAP had said Azad would contest the parliament elections from Anantnag-Rajouri seat.
According to some political observers, the main contest in the constituency is between the NC and the BJP. The BJP has not announced its candidate for Anantnag-Rajouri yet, though the party has been focusing on the constituency to extend its reach in Kashmir.
The BJP is banking big on the Pahari community of Rajouri and Poonch, who were granted Scheduled Tribe Status by the party recently. The saffron party has also succeeded in wooing some influential Pahari leaders to its fold, but winning the seat remains a challenge.
