Jammu, June 11 -- Less than three years after its inception, the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), founded by former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, appears to have reached a political dead end. The party, launched with high hopes in September 2022, has been decimated by electoral failures, mass defections, and a lack of organizational cohesion, with its leaders reportedly retreating into political hibernation.
The DPAP was formed in the wake of Azad's dramatic exit from the Congress party, where he had spent five decades. Positioning itself as a regional alternative in Jammu and Kashmir, the party aimed to fill the political vacuum created by the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. However, its performance in the...