Ghulam Nabi Azad to be Congress CM candidate in J & K election

By Our Special Correspondent

The Congress has agreed in principle to name Ghulam Nabi Azad as the party's chief ministerial candidate for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections and to replace GA Mir as the chief of the Pradesh Congress Committee.

According to sources, the Congress high command has agreed to the demand of the Jammu and Kashmir leaders to name Azad as the party CM. The first assembly elections in the Union Territory of J&K are likely to be held later this year.

“The Congress high command has approved our demand and Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will make an announcement in the next few days. We hope that the announcement will come in a few days," sources said.

J&K Congress leaders from various communities unitedly supported Azad's candidature in a meeting held in New Delhi, which was also attended by Azad.

Senior Congress leader and former minister GM Saruri said that all the leaders who attended the meeting demanded to declare Azad as the CM for the elections. No one opposed his candidature.

Saruri said the party had no other option but Azad, adding, "There is no other leader of his caliber in the party. He is the tallest leader of the party in J&K and he is acceptable to all sections of the society

Another J&K Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Monga said that Azad will be the face of the party in the assembly elections. He said that the party has no alternative but him.

Leaders said that people still remember the good governance during Azad's tenure as Jammu & Kashmir CM. They said that Azad will be able to perform together in the assembly elections.

Sources said the Congress will appoint a senior leader as the new JKPCC chief as the post fell vacant with the resignation of GA Mir.

Mir has been at the helm of affairs since 2014 and during his tenure, the party did not do well in the 2014 assembly elections and he himself lost the parliamentary elections from the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat in 2019. The party also did not do well. First DDC Elections in 2020.

Six names are under consideration, three each from Jammu and Kashmir. Those in the race for the JKPC top post include Vikar Rasool, G M Saruri and Manohar Lal, Peerzada Mohammad Saeed, Tariq Hameed 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 increase their activities for the upcoming assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir. The first assembly elections in the Union Territory of J&K are likely to be held later this year.