Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and president of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), Ghulam Nabi Azad will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election from South Kashmir’s prestigious Anantnag constituency.

Candidature of Azad was announced on Tuesday by a senior DPAP leader, Taj Mohiuddin in Srinagar. Senior party leaders, GM Saroori, who is pitched against the union minister Dr. Jitendra Singh in the Udhampur constituency, and RS Chib were also present in the press conference.

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Taj Mohiuddin said that the core committee of the DPAP has decided that Azad will contest the Anantnag seat.

Azad, who was a minister and senior party functionary of the Congress for about five decades, quit the Congress and formed the DPAP in August 2022.

This will be the first Lok Sabha election that Azad will contest after 2014 when he lost to BJP leader Dr. Jitendra Singh from the Udhampur constituency. While being in Congress, he won the Lok Sabha election from Maharashtra.

Taj Mohiuddin said that there has been no progress on a pre-poll alliance with the Apni Party of Altaf Bukhari. “We are short of time and there was not much headway in talks. Moreover, the Apni Party did not seem interested in contesting the Anantnag seat. Candidates for the other two seats of Kashmir will be announced later, he said.

Azad’s candidature for the seat was announced a day after the National Conference named a Gujjar spiritual leader and five times MLA Mian Altaf as its candidate for the Anantnag seat.

Azad has already addressed a series of rallies in Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian, Rajouri and Poonch districts that are part of the redrawn Anantnag seat that will go to polls in the third phase on 7 May.