NEW DELHI, Aug 26 (UPDATED: AUGUST 27): Veteran politician Ghulam Nabi Azad on August 26, 2022 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,” Mr. Azad, who resigned from the Congress earlier in the day, said.
Mr. Azad, who had served as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Union Minister under various Prime Ministers and the Chief Minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir, refused to divulge any further details on the formation of his new party.
Refusing to be dragged into any discussion over his resignation, Mr. Azad said, “I have thought about this decision for long and there is no going back.”
“I will be setting up my outfit in Jammu and Kashmir soon. I will not be joining the BJP,” he said.
In his five-page resignation letter, Mr. Azad has also stated he and his colleagues will persevere to perpetuate the ideals they dedicated their entire adult lives for outside the formal fold of the Congress.
Mr. Azad ended his five-decade association with the Congress, terming the party comprehensively destroyed and lashing out at Rahul Gandhi for “demolishing” its entire consultative mechanism.
The Congress, dealing with the fallout of a series of high-profile exits, including that of Kapil Sibal and Ashwani Kumar, attempted to deflect the latest blow by alleging that Mr. Azad’s DNA had been “Modi-fied” and linking his resignation to the end of his Rajya Sabha tenure. (Agencies)
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