The making of Ghulam Nabi Azad’s political outfit: Who will join the former Congress veteran?

After quitting the Congress in a seething resignation letter, veteran politician Ghulam Nabi Azad is poised to float his own political party. Azad, who ended his decades-old relationship with the grand old party, recently met a number of Congress leaders from the Jammu region. Notably, Congress is witnessing a series of resignations following Azad’s departure. Many Jammu leaders, including former lawmakers and ministers, who have met Azad at his New Delhi residence since Friday are expected to join his new political outfit, reported Indian Express. Let’s look at the key leaders who might shape Azad’s party and how has Congress reacted to the development: Tara Chand Tara Chand is a three-time Congress MLA from the border Chhamb Assembly constituency in the Jammu district and has also held the position of speaker of the J&K Assembly. The 58-year-old Dalit leader was the J&K deputy chief minister in the National Conference-Congress coalition government from 2009 to 2014. GM Saroori GM Saroori had tendered his resignation from the primary membership of the Congress “in support of Ghulam Nabi Azad” on 26 August, along with Haji Abdul Rashid, Mohd Amin Bhat, Gulzar Ahmad Wani, and Choudhary Mohammad Akram. Saroori, the now-former J&K Congress vice-president, is a three-time MLA from the Inderwal (now known as Mughal Maidan) constituency in Kishtwar district. [caption id=“attachment_11139381” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] GM Saroori has said Ghulam Nabi Azad will form his political outfit within 20 days. ANI[/caption] The 66-year-old Saroori, whose political career has been marred by controversy, was appointed as a minister of state in the J&K government from 2003 to 2008 and in 2009-10, he served as a Cabinet minister, as per Indian Express.

Saroori said that Azad’s new outfit will be formed in the next 20 days.

“He (Azad) is going to be the chief minister face of the new party for J&K and consultations are going on. Azad is going to form the national party within next 20 days. It’s going to be a secular party, which is our ideology and all of us have joined with him for that ideology,” Saroori told Hindustan Times on Sunday. Choudhary Mohammad Akram Choudhary Mohammad Akram comes from a prominent political family with influence among J&K’s Gujjars and Bakarwals. He was elected as an MLA from the Surankote Assembly constituency in his maiden elections in 2014. His father Choudhary Aslam, a well-known politician with a career spanning 48 years, was the J&K Congress president for 17 years. RS Chib Senior Congress leader RS Chib also announced his exit from the party on Friday in Azad’s support. Chib, a former Indian Air Force officer, had joined Congress after leaving BJP. He had unsuccessfully contested the 2002 J&K Assembly polls from Suchetgarh. Abdul Majid Wani Abdul Majid Wani is a two-time MLA from Doda. He was made a minister in the NC-Congress coalition government in 2008. Wani lost to BJP’s Shakti Parihar in Doda in the 2014 J&K polls. Former J&K ministers Manohar Lal Sharma and Jugal Sharma and youth Congress leader Salman Nizami are also likely to be a part of Azad’s national political party. Meanwhile, following Azad’s footsteps, three more J&K Congress leaders including former deputy speaker Gulam Hyder Malik and former MLCs – Subash Gupta from Kathua and Sham Lal Bhagat from Doda – quit Congress on Monday. [caption id=“attachment_11138941” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Many former J&K Congress MLAs and ministers met Ghulam Nabi Azad. PTI[/caption] ‘A-Team of the BJP’ Reeling from the spate of exits following Ghulam Nabi Azad’s resignation, senior Congress leader GA Mir came down heavily on the former J&K chief minister. Calling the leaders who quit Congress in the veteran leader’s support “A-Team of the BJP”, Mir said Azad will meet the fate of ex-Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh. “Till now we used to say (about some parties in J&K) as B-Team, C-Team (of the BJP). But now, they (Azad-led group) are coming forward as the A-Team. The veil is being lifted, and the people of Jammu and Kashmir will decide what happens to them,” Mir was quoted as saying by PTI.

He said those who left the grand old party were the “hero-worshipping kind of people who did not know the ABC of the Congress".

“They will leave when some personality they worship leaves, but those who follow the party’s ideology and its leadership will stand with its secularism, socialism. We all are one and united,” Mir said. The senior Congress leader also raised questions on Azad’s timing to quit the party, saying he should have waited for Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to return from abroad. Targeting Azad, he said the public is watching and will decide the future of those who left the party in its time of need. Ghulam Nabi Azad steps up attack on Congress Ahead of launching his political outfit from Jammu and Kashmir, Azad on Monday accused the Congress leadership of not setting things right. “I give my best wishes to the Congress, but the party needs medicines more than wishes. And, these medicines are being provided to the Congress by compounders instead of doctors,” Azad said, as per PTI.

Continuing his attack, Azad said the party’s foundation has turned “weak” and it can crumble anytime, which is why so many leaders have left Congress. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.