Within three months of formation, the Democratic Azad Party (DAP) of the former stalwart of Congress Ghulam Nabi Azad received a big jolt when the party was forced to expel three prominent faces from Jammu province namely Tara Chand, Dr. Manohar Lal Sharma, and Thakur Balwan Singh from the party.
A three-time MLA Tara Chand, a former Deputy Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of J&K and a Dalit leader is a close and trusted confidant of Ghulam Nabi Azad. Dr. Manohar Lal Sharma is a former minister and two-time MLA from the Billawar assembly constituency of the Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Thakur Balwan Singh is also a prominent leader of Jammu province. DAP general secretary, Rajinder Singh Chib, in a statement said that the trio was expelled for 'anti-party activities'.
"Chairman DAP Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad has expelled Shri Tara Chand, Dr. Manohar Lal, and Shri Balwan Singh, from the party with immediate effect for anti-party activities," Chib said in the statement.
Trio was in touch with Congress high command
Sources said the trio was in touch with Congress leaders and luring other leaders of the DAP to rejoin the Congress party.
Sources further said that Tara Chand, Dr. Manohar Lal, and Balwan Singh recently met Rajni Patil, AICC incharge of J&K Congress. They assured Rajni Patil that they would rejoin Congress when the Bharat Jodo Yatra of Rahul Gandhi enter J&K.
Although the return of the trio to Congress was finalized after meeting with Rajni Patil, they were assigned the job to mobilize other leaders of the DAP to rejoin the Congress.
"During the last week, the trio has approached many leaders of DAP and asked them to rejoin Congress during entry of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in J&K", sources said.
Azad floated a new political party on September 26
Notably, on September 26, Ghulam Nabi Azad launched a new political party under the name "Democratic Azad Party" in Jammu. He also unveiled the flag of the new party.
Flanked by Tara Chand, and ex-minister Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, former leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad launched the new party today. Ghulam Nabi Azad snapped his 50-year-long relations with Congress Party on August 26, terming the party "comprehensively destroyed". He also lashed out at Rahul Gandhi for "demolishing" the party's entire consultative mechanism.
Azad's close confidant to rejoin Tara Chand
Former deputy chief minister Tara Chand on Thursday said that he is returning to Congress as Ghulam Nabi Azad-led Democratic Azad Party is only dividing the secular vote.
Talking to a local news agency Tara Chand, who was deputy CM during NC- Congress regime, said that he is likely to rejoin Congress.
"I will rejoin the party. I am Congressman by birth, "he said, adding that he is consulting with his workers.
He said they were expelled from the group at the time when they were thinking of rejoining the party.
"Most of the people would leave the party. Where is the party? It is almost non-existent and only a few people are calling shots in it," he said and added that Ghulam Nabi Azad-led DAP is only dividing the secular vote.
