Kashmir’s kingsmen are up for grabs in the run-up to the Assembly polls, with several leaders deserting the Delhi-backed parties to join the mainstream parties in the Valley.

The BJP-led government at the Centre is believed to have played a key role in the formation of Altaf Bukhari’s Apni Party and Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP). It had also propped up Sajad Lone’s Peoples Conference to challenge the old guard such as the National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Congress.

The Apni Party, Peoples Conference and the DPAP are also called the “king’s parties” for their proximity with the Centre. They were supportive of the BJP’s policies to varying degrees after the 2019 scrapping of special status, which earned them the tag of the saffron party’s B, C and D teams. They have, however, lost lustre following their humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.

Several leaders from these three parties are now on their way out.

Apni Party’s Usman Majid, Noor Mohammad and Choudhary Zulfikar, Peoples Conference’s Nizam-ud-din Bhat and Khurshid Alam and the DPAP’s Taj Mohiuddin have deserted their parties in recent weeks.

Mohiuddin has returned to the Congress and Alam to the PDP while Zulfikar has joined the BJP. Others are weighing options.

On Tuesday, Apni Party’s Zaffar Manhas, who was the candidate for the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, quit the party. He is likely to join the Congress.

“I have resigned from the Apni Party and this is what my workers wanted me to do,” Manhas told reporters. “I have not joined any party yet.” Former minister Abdul Haq Khan on Tuesday returned to the PDP, two years after he had reportedly resigned from
the party.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, however, said Khan had not resigned but become inactive.

Khan’s return was preceded by high drama. He suffered a mild heart attack early in the day and was admitted to a hospital in Srinagar. Later, he was shifted to his home where Mehbooba visited him. They spoke for some time and Khan announced his return to his party.

The PDP had borne the brunt of Delhi’s crackdown after 2019, with several of its senior leaders quitting to form the Apni Party or joining other parties. The party’s veteran face in Kupwara and a former Rajya Sabha member, Sheikh Fayaz, had returned to the party ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and was the PDP candidate for Baramulla. A few weeks ago, former minister Basharat Bukhari also rejoined it.

Apni Party spokesman Muntazir Mohiuddin said: “Where are they (their leaders) going? Our leader (Zulfikar), a former minister, has been poached by the BJP. He joined the BJP, which is working against us. Another leader (former MLC Javaid Mirchal) has been poached by the National Conference,” Mohiuddin told reporters here.

“(It proves), we never had any links with BJP and never will.”