Jammu Kashmir Congress hits out at Ghulam Nabi Azad over comments on Nehru, Gandhi family
Senior Congress leaders from Jammu Kashmir said Ghulam Nabi Azad never raised these issues when he was enjoying benefits of being a Union cabinet minister
Top leaders from Jammu and Kashmir Congress, including two former Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs, lashed out at former chief minister and Democratic Azad Party president Ghulam Nabi Azad for speaking against former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the Gandhi family.
The senior Congress leaders said the former leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha never raised these issues when he was enjoying benefits of being a Union cabinet minister during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule or chief minister.
Addressing Azad’s comments, Saifuddin Soz, who has also served in Manmohan Singh’s cabinet, said, “The feeling is widespread that Ghulam Nabi Azad deserted the Congress Party, at last, which had bestowed upon him so many honours, all through his career.”
“In Jammu and Kashmir, the fact is that Azad is seen moving closer to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as his participation in electoral politics will cause division of votes, particularly in Jammu province, which will result in indirect support to the BJP. This seems to be an organised effort,” he added.
Soz said the Congress will not suffer any setback as the people think that Azad’s action constitutes extreme disloyalty to the Congress, which had accorded dignified positions to him all through his political career, adding “People also feel that Azad’s action against the Congress party has come at a time when Congress is leading the campaign against Fascist Forces in India.”
Another former Pradesh Congress Committee president; Ghulam Ahmad Mir, said that Azad has stooped low in attacking his former colleagues and members of the Nehru and Gandhi families.
“The way Azad spoke does not suit his calibre. This only shows he is working on an agenda given to him by the BJP,” Mir who remained at loggerheads with Azad even when he was in Congress said. “Even in Congress, he tried to create divisions within the party and promoted his own lobby not only in J&K, but also in other places. “Congress made him a big leader by giving him big posts, otherwise he could even win a single parliamentary election.”
Mir went on to say that Azad was doing this as part of a project handed to him by the BJP and to secure security and government accommodation.
Former member of the Parliament and senior Congress Working Committee member, Tariq Hameed Karra, meanwhile, shared an old video of Ghulam Nabi Azad on social media wherein he can be seen praising Rahul Gandhi’s work as the party president.
“Sermons from prehistoric days,” he said, adding that Azad should have also spent time addressing his four decades in power.
