Ghulam Nabi Azad

They submitted a joint resignation letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Launching a fresh attack on the Congress three days after he quit the party, Azad said the party needs medicines for treating it which are being provided by compounders instead of doctors. He also accused the Congress leadership of not having time for setting the organisation right.

Speaking to reporters at his residence, Azad who quit the party on Friday last, alleged that the leaders being projected in the party in states are making party members leave instead of uniting them.

Azad would meet the same fate as ex-Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, said the former president of the Congress’ Jammu and Kashmir unit at a press conference here. He was flanked by Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president Viqar Rasool and other party leaders.

The Congress, dealing with the fallout of a series of high-profile exits, including that of Kapil Sibal and Ashwani Kumar, has attempted to deflect the latest blow by alleging that Azad's DNA had been "Modi-fied" and linking his resignation to the end of his Rajya Sabha tenure.

”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 resigned from the Congress earlier in the day, told PTI.

More leaders, perceived to be close to Azad, are contemplating to resign, the sources said.

The G-23, whose members were mocked by party supporters after their letter was made public on August 24, 2020, has essentially disintegrated over the last two years with the resignations of Azad and Kapil Sibal, who were considered the initiative's main proponents, and others making peace with the high command

Former ministers R S Chib and G M Saroori, former MLA Mohammad Amin Bhat, former MLC Naresh Gupta and party leader Salman Nizami resigned in support of Azad

Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday resigned from all party positions, including its primary membership, delivering another blow to the embattled party that has seen several stalwarts bid adieu.

The veteran Congress leader expressed much angst through his resignation letter, as he stepped down from all party posts.

"Long rumoured to be in the offing but a body blow to the Congress none the less. Perhaps the senior most leader to quit the party in recent times, his resignation letter makes for very painful reading," Omar Abdullah tweeted.

Despite serving eight terms in the Rajya Sabha, Azad, who retired from the Upper House in March, was not renominated to the Upper House by the Congress.

The former leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha made the announcement on Twitter.

Recently, the Centre launched action against the former MPs and Union ministers who were overstaying in their official bungalows.

After the Group of 23 pitched for an "inclusive and collective leadership" in the Congress, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, one of its members, met Rahul Gandhi on Thursday and the two leaders were learnt to have discussed a revamp of the party organisation, a key demand of the dissenters.

Mubashir Azad and his supporters were welcomed into the party fold by Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina and other senior leaders, including ex-MLA Daleep Singh Parihar.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and veteran politician of the Congress party Azad was conferred with the Padma Bhushan on January 25 for his contribution in the field of public affairs

Ghulam Nabi Azad, one of the top politicians of Jammu & Kashmir, has served as the chief minister of the erstwhile state between 2005 and 2008. He was the Union health minister from 2009 and 2014, and subsequently served as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha till February 2021.

Former Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and former Rajya Sabha member Raj Babbar are among the G-23 leaders named as star campaigners.