Seventeen loyalists of former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad announced their return to the Congress on Friday, giving a fillip to the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra a fortnight before it enters Jammu and Kashmir.

The development is demoralising for Azad, accused of a secret tie-up with the BJP since quitting the Congress in August, and might prevent the split of anti-BJP votes when the long-awaited Assembly elections are held in Jammu and Kashmir.

Azad’s departure from the Congress and his formation of the Democratic Azad Party was seen as heralding the rise of another major force in Jammu and Kashmir politics.

With several veterans leaving with him, the Congress had been reduced to a minor player in the region.

But Azad has since then failed to strike a chord with the people, apparently because many sensed that his exit from the Congress might help the BJP.

Now, the success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra seems to have persuaded several of his loyalists that it is time to rejoin the Congress.

Those who announced their return to the Congress at an event in Delhi on Friday included three erstwhile MLAs — former deputy chief minister Tara Chand, former minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed and Thakur Bhaklwan Singh.

“I apologise to the people of Kashmir, the people of the whole country and my party. I did not sleep during the past two months, I faced so much pressure from the people and my family,” Peerzada said.

Tarachand summed up the mood saying: “We got swayed by emotions because Azad has been our friend for 40 years. But we soon realised our mistake and felt very uncomfortable. We also suspected that he was taking the party in the wrong direction, to a wrong place, instead of strengthening secular forces.” Peerzada said: “We realised we are on the wrong path. There appeared to be a design to take us somewhere else, where we didn’t want to go.”

In Jammu, Azad played the development down, refusing to call it a setback. “The three men (former MLAs) have no constituency of their own. I wish them well. All three lost their constituencies during (last year’s) delimitation and I regret that,” Azad said.

“I had taken them along because they were old colleagues, otherwise they can’t even contest elections.” Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal said it was a happy day for the party.

“The Bharat Jodo Yatra has become a big movement in the country and that is why all these leaders have decided to come back to the Congress fold,” Venugopal said.

Three former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers — Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah — and several other senior politicians of the region have announced their support for and participation in the Yatra.

Azad still enjoys the support of several former Congress stalwarts, including Taj Mohiuddin, Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, R.S. Chib and Jugal Kishore. It is unclear whether he will suffer further desertions.

Azad has in recent months made several controversial remarks, for instance, that it is impossible to restore Article 370.