Full statehood, Assembly with a Governor: Ghulam Nabi Azad spells out his party's agenda in first public meet after exit from Congress

Full statehood, Assembly with a Governor: Ghulam Nabi Azad spells out his party's agenda in first public meet after exit from Congress

In his resignation letter last month, Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad claimed that Sonia Gandhi was just "a nominal head" of Congress and all the major decisions were taken by "Rahul Gandhi or rather worse his security guards and PAs"

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned from Congress last month citing a leadership crisis in the party

He had also announced that he will be floating a new political party ahead of Assembly polls in J&K

Congress taunted Azad and claimed that his 'DNA was Modi-fied'

Jammu: Former union minister and ex-Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad, on Sunday said that his party will focus on the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, right to land and employment to native domiciles among other issues. Stressing that the new political party will be rooted in J&K's soil, Azad said that the flag of his party will be 'designed by the people of J&K'.

Azad addressed his first public meeting in Jammu today after quitting the Congress party. In his address, Azad said that Congress was made by its workers with 'blood, and not by computers, not by Twitter'.

"People are trying to defame us but their reach is limited to computers & tweets. That is the reason Congress is nowhere to be seen on the ground," he further added. "I won't dictate from Delhi... The flag of our party will be decided by the people of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

"I've not decided upon a name for my party yet. The people of J&K will decide the name and the flag for the party. I'll give a Hindustani name to my party that everyone can understand," Azad said while addressing a rally. My party will focus on -the restoration of full statehood, right to land and employment to native domicile - he further added.

Azad also said that the agenda of his party would be - restoration of full statehood, right to land, employment to native domicile and assembly with Governor, and not with a Lt Governor. "My ," Azad said.

"I've not decided upon a name for my party yet. The people of J&K will decide the name and the flag for the party. I'll give a Hindustani name to my party that everyone can understand," Azad said while addressing a rally. My party will focus on -the restoration of full statehood, right to land and employment to native domicile - he further added.

Azad also said that the agenda of his party would be - restoration of full statehood, right to land, employment to native domicile and assembly with Governor, and not with a Lt Governor. "My ," Azad said.

Azad's rally coincides with Congress' Halla bol rally in Delhi

Azad, who resigned from Congress last month ending his 50-year-long association with the party over the leadership crisis in the organization, said that he will launch a new party soon and the first unit will be formed in Jammu and Kashmir before the Assembly elections in the Union Territory. Azad's first public meeting comes at a time when Congress leaders are holding a 'Mehangai Par Halla Bol' rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on Sunday.

After Azad's resignation, 64 leaders from J&K quit the party. Expressing their solidarity with Azad, 36 Congress leaders including leaders of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the youth wing of the Congress also submitted their resignations to the party leadership.

64 leaders from J&K resign in solidarity with Azad

"I support resignation of Ghulam Nabi Azad from Congress party. I am fed up with the favouritism in the party. The work of ground-level workers doesn't matter in the party. This is the reason why we failed in 90 per cent of the elections," NSUI-J&K unit general secretary Manik Sharma said in his resignation letter.

In his resignation letter, Azad, who was a part of the G-23 group of leaders who revolted against the Congress leadership, had cited that Sonia Gandhi was just "a nominal head" of Congress and all the major decisions were taken by "Rahul Gandhi or rather worse his security guards and PAs".

Gandhi loyalists were quick to hit back as party veteran Jairam Ramesh taunted that Azad's 'DNA was Modi-fied'.