On Tuesday, Youth Congress leaders and activists in Jammu burned the effigy of Ghulam Nabi Azad for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and claimed that he was conspiring against the party at the behest of the BJP to weaken it for his own promotion and gains.
This reaction has come after the “rebel” Congress leaders held several public meetings in the Jammu region to convey a message of strength to the party leadership as they want the coterie around Gandhis to be replaced by the elected leaders and more transparency within the party.
These leaders have publicly criticised the party leadership for being invisible on the ground and said that they were the real Congress and will not leave the party but overhaul it.
Anand Sharma, another senior party leader, criticised the Congress leadership for entering into an alliance with a Muslim cleric in Bengal.
Reports from Jammu said that the protests were led by DDC member and former general secretary of J&K Congress Mohammad Shahnawaz Choudhary, who came to Jammu Press Club with his supporters to burn effigy of Azad amid slogans in favour of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
“Congress has always put him (Azad) on the top and when the party needed his experience at the time of crisis, he came to Jammu and Kashmir and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi who deprived us of statehood. It is clear that he is working at the behest of the BJP to weaken the party for his personal gains,” Choudhary was quoted by news agencies outside the press club in Jammu.
The protesting Congress leaders said that instead of praising PM Modi, Azad should have used his experience to help Congress to come out of the present crisis. They also demanded stern action against the entire rebel Congress leaders by the party high command