In another setback for the Apni Party, vice-president and founding member Zaffar Iqbal Manhas resigned on Tuesday amid speculation that he might join the Congress. His son, Irfan Manhas, vice-chairman of the district development council in Shopian, also resigned from the party.
Apni Party’s other senior leader and former minister, Choudhary Zulfikar Ali, joined the BJP on Monday.
Manhas was the Apni Party’s candidate for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat in the recent election. Despite the BJP’s support and an aggressive campaign in the Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu, he lost the election.
Manhas told reporters in Srinagar that he has not yet decided which party he will join. However, his supporters claimed that he might go with the Congress when Rahul Gandhi visits Srinagar on Wednesday.
Manhas was previously in the PDP but left it to join the Apni Party.