Eight former Jammu and Kashmir Congress legislators and ex-ministers resigned from the party’s basic membership on Friday in support of Ghulam Nabi Azad, who resigned from the party earlier that day.
Three of the former Congress leaders who resigned are from Kashmir, and five are from Jammu and Kashmir.
Former ministers GM Saroori, RS Chib, and Jugal Kishore Sharma, as well as former legislators Choudhary Akram, Mohammad Amin Bhat, Gulzar Ahmad Wani, Haji Abdul Rashid, and Naresh Gupta, have all resigned.
“We the following ex-ministers and legislators of the dissolved legislative assembly of J&K hereby resign from all the positions holding in the Congress party and also resign from the basic membership of the party in support of Ghulam Nabi Azad,” the statement reads.
Former minister Chib also submitted a separate resignation. “Over the years as a member of the Congress party, it has been my sincere endeavor to work for the betterment of my state – Jammu & Kashmir. I feel that in the prevailing circumstances, Congress party has lost its momentum in contributing towards the future of my state,” Chib stated in his resignation letter.
“Keeping in view the turmoil that the state of J&K has witnessed over the past decades, the people require a decisive leader like Azad to guide them towards a better future. I feel that the Congress has not been able to play the role that is expected of it,” the letter further said.
Five leaders who resigned today have already set up camp in Delhi and are thought to be close to Azad.
Haji Abdul Rashid, a two-time former legislator from Sopore assembly constituency in north Kashmir, resigned shortly after Congress named former legislator Vikar Rasool as the new J&KPCC president.
