Country needs strong opposition, says Farooq Abdullah; "body blow" says Omar

Srinagar: National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Friday said Ghulam Nabi Azad must have resigned from the Congress as he must not be getting respect and love from the party and added that the country needs a stronger opposition.
Abdullah's son and Vice President of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Omar Abdullah in a tweet said it is a blow to Congress and Azad's letter makes for a very painful reading. "Long rumoured to be in the offing but a body blow 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 leaden 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 strong opposition," Farooq Abdullah told ANI.
He said that he has not read the letter that Azad wrote but it must be a political matter due to which he resigned.
"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 one of the group of 23 leaders who were vocal about a leadership change in the Congress and not being dependent on the Gandhi family for every major decision of the Congress party.
The Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad had on Friday 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 hard-hitting 5 page note to party interim president Sonia Gandhi, Azad claimed that a coterie runs the party while she was just a nominal head and all the major decisions were taken by "Shri Rahul Gandhi or rather worse his security guards and PAs".
The development comes days after Azad resigned from the organisational post of Jammu and Kashmir. Recounting his long association with the Congress and his close relationship with Indira Gandhi, Azad said the situation in the Congress party has reached a point of "no return." (ANI)