A dozen senior leaders seek removal of J&K Cong chief Mir

After problems in Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, the Congress is now battling a rebellion in Jammu & Kashmir.

The party received a major jolt after about a dozen senior leaders, including former Ministers and legislators loyal to Ghulam Nabi Azad,  resigned demanding removal of  J&K Congress chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir.

Party sources said GM Saroori, Jugal Kishore Sharma, Vikar Rasool, Dr Manohar Lal Sharma, Ghulam Nabi Monga, Naresh Gupta, Subash Gupta, Amin Bhat, Anwar Bhat, Inayat Ali and others in a joint statement to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi have submitted their resignation from party positions.

Those who have resigned belonged both to Kashmir and Jammu and all of them are close to former J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. They have maintained that they are not leaving the party. In the letter to Sonia, the leaders have alleged that under Mir, the Congress is heading towards a disastrous situation and over 200 leaders, including former Ministers, MLAs, MLCs, PCC office-bearers, district presidents and AICC Members have left for other parties.

The leaders said they have been requesting the high command for long to change the J&K Congress president but it was not heeded.

“Mir has been a total disaster for the party. He has been the president of the J&K unit of Congress for about seven years. Normally a person heads the party unit in a single term for two years (maximum three years),” said J&K Congress senior vice-president Monga.

He made it clear they are not leaving the party. “We are Congress by heart and won’t leave the party,” asserted Monga.

In the absence of former party chief Rahul Gandhi who is abroad, Congress’ president Sonia Gandhi is trying to avert a split in Jammu and Kashmir. AICC sources said Sonia is in touch with Azad and J&K Congress chief Mir, AICC in-charge of the Union Territory, Rajni Patil, and other leaders.

AICC sources said Patil’s bid to isolate Azad has triggered a chain reaction. Patil recently replaced Ambika Soni as AICC’s point-person. When Patil toured Jammu and Kashmir in October this year, she reportedly expressed here annoyance over party workers chanting Azad’s name repeatedly.

There is a buzz that Jammu and Kashmir polls will be either held along with Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab polls in March 2022 or separately in May 2022.

Congress sources say Sonia wants to resolve the crisis by keeping Azad in good humour.  She is aware of Azad’s strength in the Union Territory and his rapport with Farooq Abdullah-led National Conference, which could enter into an electoral alliance with the grand old party.