Congress accuses Azad of speaking BJP’s language

Former J&K Pradesh Congress president, Ghulam Ahmad Mir said that leaders like Azad are responsible for Congress not performing well in Lok Sabha elections

Srinagar: Congress has lambasted former J&K chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for saying that the Congress tally will fall further in the Parliament and the party will never have 350 seats in the Lok Sabha.

Former congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad at a public meeting in Baramulla September 11 said said he will launch his new party in 10 days. (HT Photo)

Addressing his first rally in Baramulla on Sunday, former J&K chief minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad said that he would not mislead people with false promises on the issue. The veteran leader had said that restoring Article 370 in J&K requires a two-thirds majority in the Parliament. Azad said: “This means, the party must have more than 350 Lok Sabha seats. From the last 10 years, the tally of Congress has not crossed 50. So how can I mislead people that ‘I will restore Article 370’? Where will I get MPs from?”

He further hit out at the Congress saying that the party had 73 seats in the Rajya Sabha when he was elected but it subsequently kept losing ground.

Former J&K Pradesh Congress president, Ghulam Ahmad Mir said that Azad is speaking the language of the BJP. “He (Azad) has been assigned a project and he is working on it.”

Mir said that leaders like Azad are responsible for Congress not performing well in Lok Sabha elections. “They weakened the party and like him, there were many black sheep within the party who left,” Mir said that Congress never said that they will restore Article 370 now. “We will only do it, once the party has a majority in the Parliament. This time we don’t have the requisite numbers but it’s possible after 5, 10 or 15 years we will get those numbers. We are jointly fighting for it.”

Mir said that there are two other ways to get Article 370 restore...”One is Supreme Court and another was elections. We are hopeful and parties small and big have joined hands to fight for it.”

Mir said that Azad is trying to weaken the stand of people by giving such type of statements. “Time will prove him wrong.”

Sheikh Amir, Congress spokesman and youth leader said that it was Azad, who in his speech said Article 370 should be restored: “Now why this contradiction.”