Ghulam Nabi Azad to Launch his Own Party

Ghulam Nabi Azad, who quit Congress on Friday (August 26) is all set to launch his own party and its first unit would come up in Jammu and Kashmir within a fortnight, his close confidant G M Saroori said on Saturday.

Saroori asserted that the restoration of the pre-August 5, 2019 position of Jammu and Kashmir will be part of the party's manifesto, a Zee News report said.

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A former minister who was among several prominent Congress leaders of Jammu and Kashmir who resigned from the basic membership of the party in support of Azad, Saroori said their leader was ideologically secular and there was no question of him working at the behest of the BJP.

He also claimed that hundreds of senior Congress leaders, Panchayati Raj Institution members and prominent workers have tendered their resignations after the former chief minister ended his over five-decade-long association with the national party.

"Azad is coming to Jammu on September 4 to hold consultations with his well-wishers before the launch of our new party," Saroori, a former vice-president of the J-K unit of the Congress, told PTI.

Hours after his resignation on Friday, Azad said he would launch a new party soon and that its first unit would be set up in Jammu and Kashmir.

"I am in no hurry as of now to launch a national party but keeping in mind that elections are likely to be held in Jammu and Kashmir, I have decided to launch a unit there soon," Azad, who hails from the Bhaderwah township of Doda district, had told PTI on Friday night.

Saroori, who along with several former legislators met with Azad in New Delhi on Friday to extend their support, said the veteran politician was going to announce the launch of the party within the next fortnight.

"We are happy that he is returning to J-K where he served as chief minister (from November 2, 2005 to July 11, 2008). People view his rule as a golden era and want him back to pull out Jammu and Kashmir from the present situation," he said, adding that his support base is spread across Jammu and Kashmir.

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