Former deputy chief minister Tara Chand and 50 others, on Tuesday, resigned from the Congress and announced their support to Ghulam Nabi Azad. A couple of more leaders abstained from the reception that was accorded to MP and AICC in-charge of J&K Rajni Patil on her arrival here this afternoon.
Among others who quit the Congress include former ministers Abdul Majid Wani, Manohar Lal Sharma, Gharu Ram, and former MLA Balwan Singh. It is being said that many more Congress leaders are planning to quit the party on September 4 when Azad comes here to formally announce the formation of his party.
Political scene in J & K is bound to hot up as Home Minister Amit Shah is also expected to visit here sometime next month and address two rallies in Jammu division and one in Kashmir.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rajni Patil along with newly appointed J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president Vikar Rasool Wani and Working President Raman Bhalla were accorded rousing welcome on their arrival at Jammu airport by a large number of Congress workers, who proceeded to the PCC headquarters on Residency Road in a procession.
Addressing the gathering, Patil said that no defection can weaken the party, which will emerge stronger. Loyal party workers shall keep the flag of the party high in every situation, she said, urging them to work unitedly to strengthen the party under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Pail said the party has given everything to some top leaders, in an oblique reference to Ghulam Nabi Azad, and added that the party made him MP, Minister, Leader of Party in Parliament and several top positions were given.
She said that the Congress is steadfast in its principles, policies and programmes and shall continue to fight “communal, divisive and wrong policies of the Modi government.” She appreciated the Congress workers and leaders who were on the street for the last eight years against the anti-people policies of the Modi Government.
PCC president Vikar Rasool Wani said that new leadership will emerge in J&K as some old guards have deserted the party. Raman Bhalla, Working President of PCC, hitting out at Azad, said that he got the best from the party and has chosen to quit the Congress at this critical juncture.
BJP in-charge of J&K Tarun Chugh, while chairing a series of party meetings here, said that the Congress has become a party of sycophants of the Gandhi clan and that is the reason why all other powerful leaders are leaving the party one by one.