‘In the coming days, Azad is going to take a final call about his future in Jammu and Kashmir politics’.
Srinagar: Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has refused to accept new responsibilities in JKPCC’s recent revamp, triggering further resignations in the Congress unit of Jammu and Kashmir.
Though the party high command has made one of his loyalists Vikar Rasool Wani as new JKPCC chief, many former MLAs and ministers of Congress have expressed their anger over the reorganization of JKPCC and ignoring of Kashmir valley by the party high command. On Tuesday, the Congress high command announced seven party panels besides changing the JKPCC chief. Ghulam Nabi Azad figured in two key panels as he was nominated campaign committee chairman and member of political affairs committee. Azad cited health reasons for refusing to take responsibilities, but his close aides said that he was expecting either re-nomination to Rajya Sabha or some key role in the main circle of the central Congress leadership.
It is in place to mention that when the two camps of JKPCC were pressing for removal of Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Azad had refused to head the JKPCC. “From Kashmir valley, the working president should have been nominated, but the central leadership has announced Raman Bhalla from Jammu as working president, and it has hurt our sentiments,” said former MLA and senior Congress leader Abdul Rashid.
With the result the loyalists of Ghulam Ahmad Mir, former JKPCC chief are also not happy and they have expressed their anger to the media, and there are chances of more resignations after the fresh panels were announced by central leadership of Congress.
Already four senior leaders have resigned from their posts after the recent revamp of Congress in Jammu and Kashmir. There are already media reports that Ghulam Nabi Azad is waiting and watching how the central leadership of Congress, especially Sonia Gandhi, will treat him in the coming days. There is a lot of pressure on Azad from his workers to float his own regional political party before the announcement of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Azad is already part of the G-23 group which is demanding more internal freedom within the Congress. His close aides told this newspaper that the option to float their own regional party cannot be ruled out if Sonia Gandhi does not utilize the services of Ghulam Nabi Azad, either in Rajya Sabha or in the party affairs at the central level.
Ghulam Nabi Azad is regarded as having close liaison with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Earlier, media reports had suggested that the BJP leadership has assured all help to Azad in case he floats his own regional party in Jammu and Kashmir. In the coming days, Azad is going to take a final call about his future in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir.