Former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed on Wednesday, 31 August, resigned from Congress and pledged support to veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is likely to float his political party in Jammu and Kashmir.
There has been an exodus from the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress since Azad quit the party on Friday, with 64 more leaders including a former deputy chief minister resigning on Tuesday.
'There Is a Limit to Tolerance': Sayeed
“There is a limit to tolerance. I was feeling suffocated in the Congress party. So, it is with a heavy heart that I am snapping my ties with the party after nearly 50 years,” Sayeed, who was a minister in several governments in Jammu and Kashmir, told reporters.
Sayeed said his decision to leave the Congress party was based on the feedback he received from his constituents in the Kokernag assembly segment.
“The people I represent said... the party leadership was not paying any attention to the feedback from the ground. In my 50 years in the party, Congress has never been in such bad shape. I had to listen to my constituents,” he added.
At the press conference with Sayeed was former MLC and party leader Mohammad Muzaffar Parray. Dozens of lesser-known leaders and workers owing allegiance to Sayeed were also present.
Asked if more leaders were going to switch sides in the coming days, Sayeed said there were not many left in the Congress now.
“Who is left in the Congress now? All the senior leaders have left the party,” he added.
Several former ministers and legislators from Jammu and Kashmir are among those who have resigned from the party and thrown their weight behind Azad, who quit the grand old party after nearly 50 years of association.
Asked about the timing of leaving of his resignation, Sayeed said he was in regular touch with Azad over the past many years.
“Azad would often express helplessness saying no one listens to him in the party. We told him to leave the party and pledged to join him,” he added.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)