Ghulam Nabi Azad’s refusal to J&K role signals anxieties for Congress

Aditi Tandon

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New Delhi, August 17

Veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s refusal to accept a leadership role as the Jammu and Kashmir Congress campaign committee chief signals persisting anxieties in the party’s G-23 camp, which has been lying low for a while.

Congress sources today termed Azad’s decision as a shocker, saying the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister was very much part of four rounds of consultations held before finalising the J&K Congress committees announced yesterday.

The last such consultation was held on July 14 and selections, including that of Vikar Rasool Vani as the J&K Congress president, were made from the list of potential state chiefs submitted by Azad, sources in the party said.

Azad had last night dissociated from the J&K Congress organisational overhaul, citing health grounds with sections close to him arguing lack of comprehensive consultations before finalising UT’s panels.

There’s a disquiet in the G-23, of which Azad is the senior-most member. It is silently regrouping with the members.

Sections of the G-23 camp today indicated that their “silence should not be construed as a weakness”.

“The party’s decision-makers should not take anything for granted. This silence should not be misconstrued as surrender. Still waters of the ocean are the first indication of the impending storm,” said a G-23 leader.

The group is keenly watching processes related to internal Congress elections – their key demand in the July 2020 letter written to party president Sonia Gandhi who had during the Congress “chintan shivir” in May said the party was in dire need of reforms and extraordinary situations called for extraordinary measures.

A G-23 source said, “We are awaiting extraordinary, not piecemeal, measures to revive the party.”

The Congress faces two elections this year — one in Gujarat and the other in Himachal — with defections continuing to haunt the party. Two HP lawmakers joined the BJP today and more are likely to jump the ship.

G-23 regrouping?

• There’s a disquiet in the G-23, of which Ghulam Nabi Azad is the senior-most member; it is silently regrouping
• Sections of the G-23 camp indicated that their “silence should not be construed as a weakness”