Major blow to Congress as seven leaders resign from party over leadership issues

The Congress party has suffered a major setback in Jammu and Kashmir. Seven leaders of the party have simultaneously resigned from their posts. It is believed that all these leaders belong to the Ghulam Nabi Azad faction and were angry with the party's decision to change the leadership. At the same time, they claim that they were not given a chance to express their views on party related issues.

Four former ministers and three MLAs are among those who have sent resignations to the high command. Sources cited by Zee News say that they are close to former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad. A few days ago, Azad had visited Jammu and Kashmir.

The leaders who resigned include GM Saroori, Jugal Kishore Sharma, Vikar Rasool, Naresh Kumar Gupta, Anwar Bhat. Apart from Sonia Gandhi, these leaders have also sent a copy of the resignation to former party president Rahul Gandhi and the party's state in charge Rajni Patil.

After resigning, these leaders alleged that they had to take this step due to the hostile attitude of the state Congress leadership. They have targeted the President of the State Congress Committee, Ghulam Ahmad Mir. Sources also said that some other leaders close to Azad, including former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, have distanced themselves from the leaders who have resigned.

These leaders said in their resignations that they tried to draw the attention of the party high command towards their issues, but they were not given time. These leaders say that they had been asking for an appointment with the party leadership for the last one year, but they were not given time.

Launching an attack at Mir, they said that the party was moving towards a very pathetic condition under Mir's leadership and many leaders of the party resigned and joined other parties, but some have decided to remain silent. They also alleged that the functioning of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress has been occupied by some leaders.

Sources said that the Congress high command had already made it clear that any concerns would be resolved under the party system and nothing would happen through the media. A senior Congress leader said disciplinary action could be taken against these leaders as they targeted the party high command.