SRINAGAR: The Congress has in principle agreed to name Ghulam Nabi Azad as the party’s chief ministerial candidate in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls and appoint a Pradesh Congress Committee chief to replace G A Mir.
The Congress high command has agreed to the demand of J&K leaders that Azad be named as the party’s CM face, according to sources. The first Assembly poll in J&K Union Territory is likely to be held by the end of this year.
“The Congress high command has given a nod to our demand and the announcement would be made in the next few days by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. We are expecting the announcement in the next few days,” sources said.
J&K Congress leaders, belonging to different factions, have unitedly backed Azad’s candidature during a meeting in New Delhi, which was also attended by Azad.
Senior Congress leader and former minister G M Saroori said all the leaders present at the meeting demanded that Azad be announced as CM face for the polls. “None opposed his candidature,” he said.
Asserting that the party has no option other than Azad, Saroori said, “There is no other leader of his stature in the party. He is the tallest leader of the party in J&K and he is acceptable to all sections of society.”
Another J&K Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Monga said Azad would be the party’s face in the Assembly polls. “The party does not have any other alternative other than him,” he said.
The leaders said people still remember good governance during Azad’s tenure as J&K CM. They said Azad can present a united face in the Assembly polls.
Sources said the Congress would be appointing a senior leader as new JKPCC chief, since the post fell vacant after G A Mir stepped down.
Mir had been at the helm of affairs for since 2014 and during his tenure, the party did not fare well in the 2014 Assembly polls and he himself lost the parliamentary elections from Anantnag Lok Sabha seat in 2019. The party also did not fare well in the first-ever DDC election in 2020.
Six names, three each from Jammu and Kashmir, are under consideration for the post. Among those in the race for the JKPC top post include Vikar Rasool, G M Saroori and Manohar Lal, Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, Tariq Hamid Karra and Ghulam Nabi Monga.
The Congress high command has asked the J&K Congress leaders to work at the grassroots level to strengthen the party and boost their activities for the forthcoming Assembly polls in J&K.
The first-ever Assembly elections in J&K Union Territory are likely to be held by the end of this year.