Tara Chand, Peerzada Sayeed among 17 leaders rejoin Congress in New Delhi

SRINAGAR — At least 17 leaders, who had resigned from the basic membership of the Congress and had joined former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad-led party, on Friday rejoined the party in New Delhi.

The leaders had resigned to support former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who later formed his own party—Democratic Azad Party—which has now been renamed as Democratic Progressive Azad Party.

In a press conference held in New Delhi, the former deputy chief minister Tara Chand and former minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed were among the 17 leaders, who rejoined Congress today.

The leaders include Tara Chand, Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed, Balwan Singh, Advocate Muzaffar Paray, Advocate Mohinder Bhardwaj, Bhushan Dogra, Virodh Sharma, Narendra Sharma, Naresh Sharma, Amresh Mangotra, Subhash Baghat, Santosh Manhas, Badrinath Sharma, Varun Mangotra, Anuradha Sharma and Vijay Sargotra.

MP Rajya Sabha and AICC General Secretary (Organization), K C Venugopal, as per the news agency KNO, said the leaders have joined the party again. He said these leaders and people from across the country including Jammu & Kashmir have also extended their support to the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

He said that former Congress leaders have also observed that they should also extend their support to their own party and thus decided to join back.

Tara Chand, while talking to reporters during the presser, said that it is time for secular forces to join hands to defeat the ill designs on the ground. “The secular-minded people should join hands to protect the country,” he said.