Press Trust of India
Jammu
The spate of resignations in the Jammu and Kashmir Congress continued unabated with 64 more leaders including a former deputy chief minister tendering their resignation and joining the Ghulam Nabi Azad camp on Tuesday, leaving the unit of the national party in the Union territory in tatters.
Led by former deputy chief minister Tara Chand, the leaders in their joint resignation letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi said, “All of us had a very long association with the party spanning over decades…But unfortunately we found that the treatment meted out to us was humiliating.”
Putting up a brave face, Jammu and Kashmir pradesh Congress committee president Vikar Rasool Wani, once a close ally of Azad, lashed out at the defectors and said only cowards run away during difficult times.
“Those who are loyal to Azad will leave the party but there are thousands who are loyal to congress and they will stay in the party. Leaving of some people will not matter much to the party and their departure will not be any major loss to the Congress,” Wani said.
Azad, 73, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, ended his five-decade association with the Congress on Friday, terming the party “comprehensively destroyed” and lashing out at Rahul Gandhi for “demolishing” its entire consultative mechanism.
Since his resignation, a number of prominent leaders have joined Azad, including a former member of parliament, a deputy chief minister, 15 former legislators including seven former ministers, besides a large number of Panchayati Raj Institution members, municipal corporators and grass-root level workers from across Jammu and Kashmir.
Chand, along with others including former ministers Abdul Majid Wani, Manohar Lal Sharma, Gharu Ram and former MLA Balwan Singh, announced their resignations from the Congress at a press conference here on Tuesday.
“Owing to the circumstances and the leadership crisis in Congress party, where a coterie surrounding party high command is calling shots in the most irresponsible manner and ruining the party,” Balwan Singh said.
“All of us had a very long association with the party spanning over decades and devoted all our energy and resources towards expanding the party in Jammu and Kashmir but unfortunately we found that the treatment meted out to us was humiliating,” Balwan Singh said, reading out from the joint resignation letter signed by 64 Congress men and senior functionaries from across the Jammu province.
The letter further said, “With our leader and mentor Ghulam Nabi Azad having resigned from the party on the issue listed by him in a letter to you (Sonia Gandhi), we believe that we should also come out of Congress to make some worthwhile contribution in building a positive political society where people are heard and responded too.”
Azad will soon launch a national-level party from Jammu and Kashmir.
Claiming that Jammu and Kashmir is facing an unprecedented crisis in the absence of an elected government, Balwan Singh said Azad’s decision to launch a national-level party from here will inspires hope and new determination to set things right once and for all.