In a jolt to the National Conference, two senior leaders Devender Rana and Surjit Singh Slathia resigned from the party on Sunday, 10 October.
Ending all speculations, Rana who was the provincial president of the party in the Jammu region, announced this decision in a media interaction.
"Dr Farooq Abdullah has received and accepted the resignations of Mr Slathia and Mr Rana. No further action or comment is deemed necessary," National Conference tweeted.
Sources close to Rana told IANS that he is likely to join the BJP on Monday in Delhi along with Slathia.
Rana, the younger brother of senior BJP leader and MoS (PMO), Jitendra Singh, was counted among the most influential leaders of NC.
Despite persuasion during the last many days by Dr Farooq Abdullah and some other NC leaders, Rana seemed determined to leave NC which he claims, has been done to protect the interests of the people living in the Jammu region.
Hours after his resignation, Rana said that he will work on the lines of 'Jammu declaration' which is a proposal to unite diverse communities of Jammu and Kashmir.
"I believe there is a need for strengthening of Jammu declaration. It'll become a voice for Jammu & Kashmir and strengthen the Union Territory and country. For this, I have changed my political path", ANI quoted Devender Rana as saying.
NC Party General Secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar nominated Adv. Rattan Lal Gupta as Provincial President for Jammu Province till the process of organisational elections is completed.
(With inputs from IANS and ANI)
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