Srinagar

Zafar Iqbal Manhas, Vice President and Founding Member of the J&K Apni Party, resigned from the party to join Congress on Tuesday. Manhas, who was the party’s candidate for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat in the recent elections, had previously left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to join the Apni Party. His son, Irfan Manhas, serves as the vice chairman of the District Development Council in Shopian.

Manhas’s resignation follows support from Apni Party workers and comes ahead of his anticipated joining of Congress on Wednesday, with Rahul Gandhi expected to be present. Additionally, the PDP faced internal dissent after releasing its candidate list for upcoming elections, with former MLA Aijaz Ahmad Mir expressing dissatisfaction and threatening to resign.

The Election Commission of India has also issued notifications for the first phase of the J&K Assembly polls, with the nomination period running until August 27 and the final date for withdrawal set for August 30.