Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 7: Conspicuous absence of ex-loyalists of Ghulam Nabi Azad from the protest organized by the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) on Mondy against the policies of the BJP government fueled rumours and gave air to many gossips in the party circle.
As part of the national-wide programme, J&K Congress organized a massive protest in Jammu but ex-loyalists of Ghulam Nabi Azad namely former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, ex-MLA Balwan Singh, and others were missing from the event.
Except for Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed all ex-Azad loyalists were missing during the protest.
Although all senior Congress leaders have maintained a guarded silence over the conspicuous absence of “Tara Chand & Co” from the protest, Monday’s episode has raised many eyebrows.
There are conflicting reports about the absence of ex-Azad loyalists in the protest. Unconfirmed reports said that loyalists-turned-rebels of Ghulam Nabi Azad, who rejoined Congress after “ditching” their former political mentor, were not invited to the protest. Another report, which is also unconfirmed, suggested that “Tara Chand & Co” were asked to join the protest but they preferred to maintain a distance.
Important to mention here that at least seventeen loyalists of Ghulam Nabi Azad, including two political stalwarts who were expelled from the Democratic Azad Party (DAP), had rejoined the Congress party in New Delhi on January 6. Former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand along with former J&K Congress chief Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, ex-MLA Thakur Balwan Singh, and others rejoined the Congress party.
The leaders had resigned in support of former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who later floated his own party—the Democratic Azad Party, which has now been renamed as Democratic Progressive Azad Party.
Tara Chand, Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed, Balwan Singh, Muzaffar Paray, Advocate Mohinder Bhardwaj, Bhushan Dogra, Vinod Sharma, Narendra Sharma, Naresh Sharma, Amresh Mangotra, Subhash Baghat, Santosh Manhas, Badrinath Sharma, Varun Mangotra, Anuradha Sharma, Chander Prabha Sharma, and Vijay Sargotra rejoined the Congress party. |
