Congress counting the benefits of Azad's departure, reminded of 1977 electoral defeat

New Delhi : Congress in Jammu and Kashmir is now counting the benefits of Ghulam Nabi Azad leaving the party. Party leaders say that now the state unit of Congress will be reformed. Azad has also announced to launch his party in the Union Territory. However, till now the situation regarding the name and date of the party is not clear. Azad had resigned from the Congress on 26 August.

According to media reports, party leaders say that Azad's departure has cleared the way for reforms in the state Congress. The leaders say that the process was halted for fear of people getting angry. Here, Congress spokesperson Jahanzaid Sirwal says that the party high command will soon appoint a team for Jammu and Kashmir Congress President Vikar Rasool and working president Raman Bhalla.

According to the Indian Express, the senior party leader said that the presence of leaders with Azad is a media story, which will soon weaken. He said that among those leaders, only GM Mansoori's side is strong. He had managed to save his seat in 2014 despite the Narendra Modi wave. He said that many leaders standing with Azad were also facing many charges and this has cleared the way for more leaders to enter the party with a clean image.

Big claim about Azad

Sirwal said Azad had to face defeat in 1977 in the only assembly election he contested from his stronghold Doda in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2006, he was Chief Minister B under the agreement. Sirwal says that this shows that Azad is not a leader of the people.

Azad had severed more than five decades of ties with the Congress in August. He had specifically questioned the leadership of Rahul Gandhi in his resignation letter to the interim president of the party, Sonia Gandhi. He had accused Rahul of destroying the churning mechanism in the party. The special thing is that Azad took the decision to leave the Congress at a time when elections are to be held for the post of President of the party. Apart from this, Rahul has also started the India Jodo Yatra at the national level from 7 September.