Ghulam Nabi Azad quits from Congress campaign committee

Congress senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned from the post of the party's campaign committee chairman only hours after he was appointed the chairman.

New Delhi : Congress senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned from the post of the party's campaign committee chairman only hours after he was appointed the chairman. Sources said he refused to assume the post due to health reasons, though the move signalled internal strife in the J&K unit of the party. Ghulam Nabi Azad has expressed thanks to the party leadership for giving him the responsibility and conveyed that he would not be able to take the post because of health reasons However, there is no official word from both sides. Azad's resignation has come to surprise for many in the party as it was considered that he was consulted in the key appointments and was active in party forums.

He even took part in Congress Gaurav Yatra on Monday and had addressed a press conference when Sonia Gandhi was called to ED. Azad has been upset since being ignored for Rajya Sabha after he retired as Leader of Opposition in the upper house. He is one of the prominent leaders of the party G-23 group which demanded sweeping reforms in the party.

The issue has come on fore when the party is to begin process of electing new president. The party has appointed the office bearers of J&K state unit, in which Vikar Rasul Wani was made the state president. The post had fallen vacant after Ghulam Ahmad Mir stepped down as the JKPCC president. Wani is a loyalist of former Chief Minister Azad.

Congress leader Ashwani Handa commented on Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s resignation from the post of chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Congress campaign committee. He alleged that Ghulam Nabi Azad was unhappy with the committee which led to him resigning from his post. “The newly constituted campaign committee has ignored the aspirations of the party's grassroot workers in Jammu and Kashmir. Injustice has been meted out to them. That's why Ghulam Nabi Azad has resigned as he was unsatisfied with the committee,” he said.--IANS