On Friday, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah said Ghulam Nabi Azad must have resigned from the Congress as he must not be getting respect and love from the party

NC Chief further added that the country needs stronger opposition.

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Vice President of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Omar Abdullah termed it a blow to Congress and Azad’s letter makes for very painful reading.

“Long rumoured to be in the offing but a body blows to the Congress nonetheless. Perhaps the seniormost leader to quit the party in recent times, his resignation letter makes for very painful reading. It’s sad and quite scary, to see the grand old party of India implode,” Omar’s tweet read.

“When a veteran leader like Ghulam Nabi Azad leaves, that means he must not be getting respect and love that was showered upon him earlier,” Farooq Abdullah said.

“Congress was taken aback when 32 leaders wrote a letter. But it happened before and Congress came back stronger. The country needs a strong opposition,” Farooq Abdullah told ANI.

Farooq further added that he has not read the letter that Azad wrote to Sonia Gandhi but it must be a political matter of his resignation.

“I have not read the letter. It is not due to health reasons. He was unwell in the past but he recovered. I think it is a political matter,” the National Conference chief said.

Azad was not dependent on the Gandhi family for every decision of the party and was one of the groups of 23 leaders who were vocal about a leadership change in the Congress.

Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad had resigned from all posts of the party citing the “immaturity” of Rahul Gandhi whom he blamed for “demolishing the consultative mechanism” in the party.

In a 5-page note to party interim president Sonia Gandhi, Azad claimed Sonia is a just nominal head and all decisions are being taken by the coterie. The letter reads “both the will and the ability under the tutelage of the coterie that runs AICC to fight for what is right for India”.

A week after Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned from the post of Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress campaign committee, on Friday he resigned from all the positions of the party.

(With Inputs from ANI)