Jammu, August 6: Several lawmakers from various political parties will join the J&K Pradesh Congress Party tomorrow afternoon in Delhi, heating up the political climate in the Jammu plains.
Several prominent members of Congress have switched allegiances in the past. However, Congress’s fortunes have been gradually improving.
We have a lot of contacts among lawmakers of all parties. Their identities must remain secret. Who and when will arrive at the party is anyone’s guess. One Congress politician who asked that his name not be used remarked, “The return of leaders has given new hope and strength to the party in all the areas.”
Even though National Conference and Apni Party were mostly unaffected by the movement of leaders to other parties, political activity in Jammu picked up once the Aam Aadmi Party’s senior leadership began leaving the party one by one.
The NC is staffed by dedicated officials. The Apni Party has also established itself firmly in Kashmir and certain regions of Jammu. According to political observers, “many leaders from the Congress Party also left the party, allegedly due to infighting, and joined various other political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, with the PDP bearing the brunt of the exodus.”
With the departure of Harsh Dev Singh, Balwant Singh Mankotia, DDC Suchetgarh Taranjit Singh Tonny, Yashpal Kundal, and Namrta Sharma, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had hoped to become one of the strongest political fronts in J&K, suffered a huge loss to its foundation in Jammu. Mankotia has joined the BJP, and Harsh Dev Singh has returned to his old party, the JKNPP, but tomorrow afternoon in Delhi, the other three will be joining the Congress.
When we go back to Jammu from Delhi, we expect hundreds of PRI members, leaders, and workers to join the Congress Party. One of the former AAP leaders said that Rajani Patil, the AICC’s J&K incharge and an MP in the Rajya Sabha, would be the one to officially welcome them into the party at the AICC’s Shaheedi Chowk headquarters in Jammu.
It was also reported by Congress Party officials that two MLCs from the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) in the Chenab Valley and two former lawmakers would soon be joining them in Delhi. Already, two of them have made it to Delhi. They have met with AICC on many occasions. They communicated their dissatisfaction with DPAP to the JKPCC’s top brass.
A top DPAP leader in Jammu remarked, “We know about two leaders from Chenab Valley who might be shifting to Congress Party,” in reference to the recent speculation that three DPAP leaders would be leaving the party. But it wouldn’t have any bearing on us. The people do not back them.
“Congress Party is in a confused state of mind and they are trying to revive itself, which is not possible with these leaders,” the DPAP leader stated.
