• Massive jolt to Congress in J&K: 51 leaders set to resign and join Ghulam Nabi Azad’s party

    Politics
    Massive jolt to Congress in J&K: 51 leaders set to resign and join Ghulam Nabi Azad’s party
    Among the leaders is Tara Chand, a former deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir who quit the party on Tuesday to support Ghulam Nabi Azad.

    Digital Desk: Ghulam Nabi Azad recently left the party and sent the Gandhis a fiery resignation letter. The worst appears to have not passed as 51 leaders are likely to resign and join Ghulam Nabi Azad's new party, even as the Congress reels from Azad's resignation as its top official. The party has lost 64 leaders since Azad's resignation.

    Among the leaders is Tara Chand, a former deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir who quit the party on Tuesday to support Ghulam Nabi Azad.

    They submitted a letter of resignation as a group to Sonia Gandhi, the head of the Congress.

    At a press conference, Chand and a number of other people—including former legislator Balwan Singh, former ministers Abdul Majid Wani, Manohar Lal Sharma, and Gharu Ram—announced their resignations from their party, including its primary membership.

    In support of Azad, we've sent Sonia Gandhi, the head of the Congress, a joint resignation letter, stated Balwan Singh.

    Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Azad, 73, resigned his five-decade affiliation with the Congress on Friday, calling it "completely wrecked" and accusing Rahul Gandhi of "demolishing" the party's whole consultation process.

    He would shortly introduce a party at the national level from Jammu and Kashmir.

    Hundreds of Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) members, municipal corporators, district and block level leaders, as well as more than a dozen prominent Congress politicians—including former ministers and legislators—have already moved to Azad.