Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir): As the dissenters in the Congress shared a public platform for the first time in Jammu, veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday said that they respect all people equally.
"Be it Jammu or Kashmir or Ladakh, we respect all religions, people, and castes. We equally respect everyone, that is our strength and we will continue with this," Azad said at the programme, which saw several 'G-23' leaders together, organised under the banner 'Shanti Sammelan'.
"In the last 5-6 yrs, all these friends (referring to his fellow 'G-23' leaders) did not speak any less than me in the Parliament over Jammu and Kashmir, its unemployment, stripping off of statehood, finishing off industries and education, implementation of GST," Azad added.
Read: G-23 leaders reach Jammu, likely to give strong message to Gandhis
Congress party's dissenters, also known as the G-23 (or the group of 23 dissenting leaders who had questioned the party's functioning in a letter to interim president Sonia Gandhi), had reached Jammu late last night.
Among the leaders who reached Jammu included Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Raj Babbar.
Following Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's "North-South" remark, several senior Congress leaders from north India are reportedly upset.
Read: Is Jammu visit a 'show of strength' for G23 leaders?
While Congress scion Rahul Gandhi headed towards the poll-bound Tamil Nadu on Saturday, G-23 leaders held a show of strength in Jammu.
Last year in August, G-23 leaders through a letter to interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi expressed their discontent and urged the top leadership of Congress to bring immediate reforms, including organisational elections from the grass-roots to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) level.
Now, they are once again up in arms against the Gandhi family and their loyal close circle who are holding key positions in the party and the parliament.
Read: Inflation high, employment shut, government is cool with eyes closed, says Rahul Gandhi
