Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday launched a veiled attack on Congress leaders and said he gave sweat and blood for the party unlike those who are spreading 'falsehood' through social media.
Azad, however, was all praise for National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and said he displayed statesmanship while making a comment on his exit from the grand old party.
Azad, 73, ended his five-decade-long association with the Congress on August 26, terming the party 'comprehensively destroyed'.
He had lashed out at former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for 'demolishing' the party's entire consultative mechanism.
"The people who want to defame me have their reach only on Twitter or computer, propagating falsehood through SMS, which is the main reason why Congress has vanished from the ground," Azad said in an apparent reference to Congress leaders.
He was speaking at his first public meeting in Jammu after resigning from the basic membership of the party.
"I am not like the one who is sitting at his home in Delhi and spreading falsehood. I was always linked to the ground and have spent time at the homes of panches and sarpanches (during campaigning)," the veteran leader said without naming any Congress leader.
Referring to the arrest of former prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1977, Azad said he led around 5,000 youth Congress activists to protest against it and was jailed for several months because he refused to come out on bond.
"Today, I am seeing Congress workers contacting the director general of police and police commissioners on the phone before going to jail and seeking release within an hour. This is one of the reasons Congress is not moving forward," he said.
Azad said he had sympathy for the Congress leadership because the party was not formed on computer and Twitter and propagating 'falsehood against us through SMS'.
"The Congress was strong because of our sweat and blood."
"I pray to Allah that let them have their tweet and kinghood while keeping us among the people," he said amid thunderous applause from his supporters who came from different parts of Jammu including far flung areas to hear him.
Thanking people for supporting his decision, Azad said if he reads all the messages of support he has received, then he has to spend a year in a cave.
The former chief minister said he rendered his services to the Congress for 53 years, holding various positions including that of Union minister and chief minister of J-K.
"The love I have received today is my power. Today I am nobody but you have resigned from Congress and other parties in my support to strengthen my hands. It is impossible to go through all the messages but I want to thank everyone in J-K, Ladakh and different parts of the country who supported my decision," he said.
Hailing NC leader Farooq Abdullah for his remarks on his exit from the Congress, he said, "Abdullah is a political rival and we enjoyed a love-hate relationship with each other over the decades. Maybe, we fight (elections) against each other but the leader is the one who is not frightened of a fight."
"He showed statesmanship by praising my decision. In a democracy, everyone has a right to form a party, join a party of his choice," Azad said.
Azad said his fight to ensure justice to the people of Jammu and Kashmir will continue till his last breath as he called for united efforts to bring down the 'walls of hatred' for prosperity and development.
Azad dismissed the remarks of Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari that he had voted for the abrogation of Article 370 in Parliament on August 5, 2019, as a deliberate attempt to 'mislead the public' due to growing support of the people and leaders for him.
"My fight for people to ensure justice to them will continue till my last breath," he said.
"We need support from each other. We have to get united and bring down the sand walls of hatred and move ahead on the path of development and prosperity together," Azad said during his over hour-long speech.
He said the majority of the Congress leaders have left the party voluntarily in his support.
"All the leaders who are present (on the dias) have not asked me before sending their resignations (to the party leadership). They submitted their resignation and then informed me about it," Azad said, adding '95 percent former Congress ministers, 95 percent legislators, 99 percent District and Block Development council members from every nook and corner' are present here.
Prominent among those present included former deputy chief minister Tara Chand, former ministers G M Saroori, Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, Taj Mohiuddin, R S Chib, Abdul Majid Wani, Manohar Lal Sharma and Gharu Ram.
Former legislators Balwan Singh, Mohd Amin Bhat, Jugal Kishore, Haji Abdul Rashid, Choudhary Mohd Akram and Gulzar Ahmad Wani also attended the rally besides PDP's Syed Bashir and Apni Party's Shoaib Lone.
"This is just a beginning, let us see what happens next," Azad said.
Without naming Bukhari, he said two former ministers and three MLAs left to join hands with him to form the Apni party two years ago.
"We neither talked about them nor the party but he (Bukhari) made a comment which shows his frustration."
Bukhari on Friday said Azad, the former Rajya Sabha MP, might have defended Article 370 in Parliament and 'even tore his shirt but let me tell the truth that Azad sahab voted for the abrogation of Article 370'.
"My speech in Parliament (on abrogation of Article 370) is on record. I was in Parliament otherwise I too would have been jailed like other chief ministers but still I made two attempts to visit Srinagar and Jammu.
"I mobilised opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi who accepted my request but again we were not allowed. I did not kept mum, knocked the door of Supreme Court which allowed me to visit Jammu, Anantnag, Srinagar and Baramulla. I reported everything to the apex court," Azad said.
"If anyone says I have done nothing, he should tell the people what he had done, other than trying to mislead the public."
He said he is in Jammu and Kashmir for the next fortnight and will spend four days in Jammu to meet various delegations from Monday before moving to Doda, Inderwal and Kishtwar in the Chenab valley and then to Kashmir.
