Srinagar, Sept 04: After snapping ties with the Congress, former MP Ghulam Nabi Azad is all set to begin a new chapter in his political career on Sunday by setting up the first unit of his party in his home state of Jammu and Kashmir.
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Azad, 73, is slated to arrive in Jammu at 11 am. He will be given a warm reception by his supporters at the airport, from where he will proceed to Sainik Farms to address a public meeting. Close to 20,000 people are expected to attend the rally. It is likely that he will announce his national-level party from there.
Ending his five-decade-long association with the Congress on August 26, Azad termed the party “comprehensively destroyed” and lashed out at Rahul Gandhi for “demolishing” its entire consultative mechanism.
The Congress, dealing with the fallout of a series of high profile exits, including that of Kapil Sibal and Ashwani Kumar, had attempted to deflect the latest blow by alleging that Azad’s DNA had been “Modi-fied” and linking his resignation to the end of his Rajya Sabha tenure.
On Saturday, Azad countered the Congress party’s allegation that he was cozying up to PM Modi and the BJP, saying that meeting and talking to political rivals does not change one’s DNA.
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Meanwhile, in a major setback to the Congress, over a dozen prominent party leaders, including former ministers and legislators, besides hundreds of Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) members, municipal corporators and district and block level leaders have already left the J&K unit to join Azad.
The leaders include former Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Tara Chand, former ministers Abdul Majid Wani, Manohar Lal Sharma, Gharu Ram and former MLA Balwan Singh, and several others. They announced their resignations from the Congress, including its primary membership, at a press conference days after Azad’s exit.
In another jolt to the Congress, former J&K legislator Ashok Sharma on Saturday wrote to party president Sonia Gandhi and resigned from the organisation. It is expected that he, too, will join the Ghulam Nabi Azad camp. (With PTI inputs)
