Former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday for showing "humanity". He said on Monday, "I thought PM Modi to be a crude man but he showed humanity."

Azad said this while recalling an attack on a Gujarat tourist bus in Jammu and Kashmir. "When was the chief minister of Kashmir, a grenade had burst inside the bus, people died on spot...when Gujarat CM had called me, I was crying. Later when PM Modi called, he heard me crying...I asked him to send two planes for assistance..."

#WATCH | "I thought PM Modi to be a crude man but he showed humanity," says Ghulam Nabi Azad pic.twitter.com/LhVHopvdhe

— ANI (@ANI) August 29, 2022

Azad hits out at Congress again

"I have been forced to leave my home on my own," said Ghulam Nabi Azad. When asked if he'll join the BJP if needed after forming a new party, Azad said, "There is a group of illitrates in the Congress — especially those sitting for clerical work...Those who know J&K, I can't increase even one vote in BJP's constituencies and they can't do it in mine..."

He said he didn't sleep for six days before and after writing the letter (G23) because he gave blood for the party. "People there today are useless...It's saddening that Congress has such spokesmen who don't even know about us...," he said.

However, he added, "My respect for Sonia Gandhi is the same as it was 30 years back. (My) respect for Rahul Gandhi is the same as that befitting Indira Gandhi's family, Rajiv-Sonia Gandhi's son. I pray for his long life. We tried to make him a successful leader but he's not interested..."

Ghulam Nabi Azad to launch new party

Ghulam Nabi Azad will launch his own party in Jammu and Kashmir within a fortnight, his close confidant GM Saroori said. Saroori asserted that the restoration of the pre-August 5, 2019 position of Jammu and Kashmir will be part of the party's manifesto.

"I am in no hurry as of now to launch a national party but keeping in mind that elections are likely to be held in Jammu and Kashmir, I have decided to launch a unit there soon," Azad, who hails from the Bhaderwah township of Doda district, had said.

Azad, who had served as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Union minister under various prime ministers and the chief minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir, refused to divulge any further details on the formation of his new party.

Meanwhile, eight senior party leaders including three former ministers resigned from the Congress's primary membership. Former ministers RS Chib, GM Saroori and Abdul Rashid; former MLAs Mohammad Amin Bhat, Gulzar Ahmad Wani and Choudhary Mohammad Akram; former MLC Naresh Gupta and party leader Salman Nizami have resigned in Azad's support, sources said.

Azad resigned on August 26 from all party positions, including its primary membership. In a five-page letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi that comes ahead of the crucial organisational elections in the party, Azad said he does so with a "heavy heart".

Azad, who is part of the G-23 group seeking change in the party, said, "Before starting a 'Bharat jodo yatra' party should undertake 'Congress jodo yatra'.

With inputs from PTI

First Published:Aug 29, 2022 10:02 AM IST