New Delhi: The Congress is planning to conduct a surgical strike on Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Democratic Azad Party (DAP) ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra reaching Jammu & Kashmir on January 20. Sources told ETV Bharat that over 100 former Congress leaders, including former deputy chief minister Tara Chand, former minister Manohar Lal, former MLA Balwant Singh, are expected to join the grand old party on Friday.
These leaders had left the Congress when Azad had floated DAP after leaving the party in August. Azad’s exit took place on a bitter note as he had blamed Rahul Gandhi for the various problems in Congress. Most of these leaders are founding members of the DAP but had been recently expelled by Azad after they publicly praised Rahul Gandhi’s yatra.
“Yes, 26 DAP leaders have joined the Congress so far. More are expected, including Tara Chand,” a senior AICC functionary said on condition of anonymity. According to Congress insiders, the “gharwapsi” of the DAP rebels and their participation in the yatra would be a befitting response to Azad, who many believe ditched the grand old party at the behest of the BJP.
Though Congress had recently denied reports that it was trying to bring back Azad, a section of the party feels that denting the DAP may push Ghulam Nabi to reconsider his stand on returning to the grand old party. Recently, Rahul Gandhi had given a mixed response when he was asked about Azad’s chances to return to the Congress fold.
Also read: Azad expels former deputy CM among its 3 top DAP leaders for anti-party activities
“What do I say…he has even confused me…sometimes he is in, sometimes he is out,” said Rahul. The yatra’s J&K leg would start from January 20 and is important for the Congress as Rahul would end the nationwide foot march on Jan 30 in Srinagar by hoisting the Indian flag.
The day is also important as it is the martyrdom day of Mahatma Gandhi. Before starting the yatra on September 7 from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, Rahul had sought the blessings of Mahatma Gandhi at his Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on September 5. Interestingly, while Congress has said that anyone was welcome to join the yatra and has invited NC leader Farooq Abdullah and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, no such invitation has been sent to Azad.
The yatra is in Western Uttar Pradesh on Friday and will re-enter Haryana on January 6, when Rahul will address a big rally in Panipat. On Friday, Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh had a tough time answering queries from a local reporter who wanted to know why the party was ending the yatra in Kashmir.
“That is because we can’t go to Kandahar or Kashgar,” Ramesh, who was visibly irritated, said. “I will send you a map of India. You can then find out why we are ending the yatra in Kashmir,” he said. The yatra, said Ramesh, is not aimed at winning elections but to fight the ideological battle against the BJP.
