JAMMU, NOVEMBER 17: In a major setback for Congress in Jammu and Kashmir, a number of senior party leaders including former ministers considered loyal to Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, have tendered their resignations from their respective party positions in protest against the high command continuously ignoring their long pending demand of change in leadership.
Prominent among them included G M Saroori, Jugal Kishore Sharma, Vikar Rasool, Dr Manohar Lal Sharma, Ghulam Nabi Monga, Naresh Gupta, Subash Gupta, Amin Bhat, Anwar Bhat, Inayat Ali. Former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, also an Azad loyalist, however, has not resigned.
In the resignation letter addressed to AICC president Sonia Gandhi and copied to Rahul Gandhi also Rajni Patil, in-charge secretary for J&K, these leaders have alleged that under the presidentship of G A Mir, Congress is heading towards disastrous situation and till today, around more than 200 top Congress leaders, including former Minister, MLAs, MLCs, PCC office bearers, District Presidents and AICC Members have resigned from the Congress and joined the other parties while some of them have chosen to remain in silent mode.
These Azad loyalists have further alleged that “some un-scrupulous sycophants have captured and highjacked the functioning of PCC. Party posts were distributed without consultation of senior leaders and sitting MLAs / MLCs of the Districts which resulted that incapable and tainted with doubtful turpitude were/ are installed.”
Pointing out that all elections one after another, may be Parliament, DDC, BDC, Panchyats and Urban Local Bodies, Congress lost and could not form even a single Council in Jammu and Kashmir, these leaders have reminded the party high command that even G A Mir himself lost in the Parliament polls and his son in the DDC elections despite combined PAGD candidate in his home constituency.
The rebellious leaders have claimed that they repeatedly sought to apprise the top party leadership about all this and for retrospection in the Pradesh Congress functioning, but no time was given to them.
“We have been requesting for appointment from the party leadership for the last about one year through the medium of memorandum/ regulations and by way of personal requests too on the maiden visit of Rahul Gandhi both at Srinagar and Jammu during August 2021. But no time was given to us.
The matter was also brought into the kind notice of Rajni Patil, but sorry to say that no heed was paid,” explained the rebels, adding that the party has absolutely reduced and on each passing day political space is shrinking.
On the other hand, they said, elections may be announced at any time and in such a collapsed and hired structure displayed through managed digital mechanisms by G A Mir, others are trying to capture the vacant space for which we have been crying, but to our dismay nobody is ready to hear the genuine grievances of the ground situation.
“In view this hostile attitude adopted by the party leadership, we have been compelled and forced to resign from all the party posts being carried. As such it is most humbly request to please accept our resignation,” read the letter.