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Indications are that Azad may launch a party, more specifically in Jammu and Kashmir, his home turf.
Seven former J&K legislators, including former ministers, quit Congress on Friday in solidarity with Azad. Former ministers Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, Haji Abdul Rashid, Jugal Kishore Sharma and R S Chib resigned along with former legislators Mohammad Amin Bhatt, Gulzar Ahmad Wani, and Chaudhary Mohammad Akram. Party spokesperson Salman Nizami, Youth Congress leader Sushain Dubey and politician Bishan Magotra also put in their papers.
Hinting at forming a new party, Azad wrote in his resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi, “Some of my other colleagues and I will now persevere to perpetuate the ideals for which we have dedicated our entire adult lives outside the formal fold of Congress.”
Interestingly, during Azad’s farewell session in Rajya Sabha in February 2021, PM Narendra Modi narrated an episode about a terror attack in 2007 in Jammu and Kashmir — Modi was then CM of Gujarat and Azad was at the helm in J&K.
“I will never forget Azad’s efforts and Pranab Mukherjee’s efforts when people from Gujarat were stuck in Kashmir due to a terror attack. That night… Ghulam Nabi Ji called me…,” he said amid tears. Calling Azad a true friend, he said: “I will not let you retire, I will continue taking your advice. My doors are always open for you.”
Reacting to the resignations, National Conference’s Omar Abdullah said it was “sad” and “scary” to see the grand old party “implode”. “Long rumoured to be in the offing but a body blow to Congress none the less. Perhaps the senior-most leader to quit in recent times, his resignation letter makes for very painful reading,” he tweeted.
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