Flurry Of Resignations In Congress As Soon As Azad Left, Three More Leaders Left Party In Jammu And Kashmir
Srinagar, 29th August 2022: Azad on Friday resigned from the party’s primary membership and all posts. He had alleged that the Congress leadership was cheating in the name of internal elections.
There has been a flurry of resignations in the party since Ghulam Nabi Azad left the Congress. On Monday, three more Congress leaders left the party. Three more Congress leaders, including former deputy speaker Ghulam Haider Malik, on Monday announced their resignation from the party in support of Azad. Azad, 73, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, ended his five-decade-long association with the Congress on Friday.
Azad had on Friday resigned from the party’s primary membership and all posts. He had alleged that the Congress leadership was cheating in the name of internal elections. He also accused Rahul Gandhi of “immature and childish” behaviour. Malik, a former MLA from Kathua’s Bani assembly constituency, and two former MLCs (Subhash Gupta from Kathua and Sham Lal Bhagat from Doda) sent their resignations separately to the party’s high command.
Azad’s close aide and former minister G M Saroori said, “We have received letters of support from Malik, Gupta and Bhagat. “Former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, former ministers Abdul Majeed Wani, Manohar Lal Sharma and Gharu Ram and former MLA Balwan Singh also met Azad in Delhi and declared their loyalty to him on Tuesday after resigning from the Congress, according to sources.
Significantly, hours after Azad’s resignation from Congress, eight senior party leaders, including three former ministers, resigned from the primary membership of the party. According to sources, it was indicated that they may form a new party soon. It was said that more leaders who are considered close to Azad are considering resigning.
More than a dozen prominent Congress leaders, including former ministers and MLAs, besides hundreds of Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) members, municipal corporations and district and block level leaders have already left the Congress to join Azad.
