Anantnag: In a major political breakthrough in South Kashmir, ex-Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Mohammad Amin Bhat has returned to the Indian National Congress. Bhat, who was previously affiliated with the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), returned to the Congress fold at a function organized at Dak Bungalow here on Wednesday.
The function had in attendance the state’s cream of Congress leadership from Jammu and Kashmir, such as J&K Congress Committee President Tariq Hamid Karra, along with senior leaders Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Raman Bhalla, and Ravinder Sharma.
Bhat’s return is likely to consolidate the Congress party in South Kashmir, especially in Kulgam district, since the area saw a comprehensive victory of the National Conference (NC) in the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The NC won 10 out of 16 seats in South Kashmir in the previous Assembly polls, with the Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) bagging two seats each.
Mohammad Amin Bhat, a member elected from the Devsar Assembly constituency in 2014, had resigned earlier from the Congress when veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad floated DPAP after the revocation of Article 370 in August 2019. Bhat was the provincial president of DPAP before he announced his resignation this week.
In a statement released to the media, Bhat thanked Azad for the privilege of serving in the DPAP and wished him and the party well in the future.
His return is a coming home to the Congress and a boost to the morale of the party in a politically contested area.