A day before last date for filing of nominations, J&K Congress has fielded Haji Farooq Ahmad Mir for Baramulla parliamentary constituency.
Mir is district president JKPCC Kupwara and a member AllIndia Congress Committee.
Sources in Congress said that the party state unit wasfacing disagreements over the issue delaying the announcement of thecandidate’s name.
Recently the Congresshigh command took a U-turn and appointed former J&K chief minister andLeader of Opposition (LoP) in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad as the chairman ofJ&K campaign and Election committee for the upcoming polls in the state.
“The move came after Azad loyalists protested theappointment of State Congress President Ghulam Ahmad Mir as the chairman withAzad being placed on number three slot in that list,” said a senior Congressleader.
Soon after the Congress president Rahul Gandhi approved theappointment of Azad as the chairman of Campaign and Election ManagementCommittee of J&K Congress. The other members of the committee includeGhulam Ahmad Mir, Nawang Rigzin Jora, Tariq Hameed Karra, Saifuddin Soz, TaraChand, Madan Lal Sharma, G M Saroori and Asgar Ali Karbalai.
In February, senior party leaders close to Azad had lodgedtheir protest with Congress high command and urged the party to appoint Azad ashead of the election campaign.
The leaders while expressing their annoyance had citedviolation of protocol because Azad’s name was placed at third number despitehim being LoP in Rajya Sabha and former CM of the state.
“The party has been facing intense internal strife sinceformer PDP leader Tariq Hameed Karra joined the party,” one of the seniorCongress leader told Greater Kashmir. “Till Sunday morning the fight was on forgetting tickets to the loyalists of Mir and Azad,” he said.
Pertinently, when Saif-ud-din Soz was State Congress chief,the party was divided into two groups – Soz camp and Azad loyalists.