Several J&K Leaders Join Congress

Kolkata: Congress workers celebrate a day after the Supreme Court stayed the conviction of party leader Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 criminal defamation case over his ‘Modi surname’ remark, in Kolkata, Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023. (PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra)(PTI08_05_2023_000144A) New Delhi- Over 20 leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, many of them from Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party, joined the Congress in the presence of party chief Mallikarjun Kharge here on Monday. Congress president Kharge, AICC general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal, AICC in-charge of state Rajani Patil and Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Vikar Rasool Wani were also present on the occasion. Yashpal Kundal, an ex-Minister, a two time legislator from Panthers Party and the Chief of the SC/ST and OBC Department of AAP in J-K, was among those who joined the Congress here. Haji Abdul Rashid Dar, a former vice president of JKPCC who later joined Azad’s party, also returned to the Congress fold. Naresh K Gupta (DPAP), Sham Lal Bhagat (DPAP), Namrata Sharma (Apni Party), Saima Jan (DPAP), Shahjehan Dar (DPAP), Farooq Ahmad (AAP), Taranjit Singh Toni, Gazanfar Ali, Santosh Majotra (DPAP), Rajni Sharma (DPAP), Nirmal Singh Mehta (DPAP), Madan Lal Chalotra (APNI Party), Hamit Singh Batti (AAP), Ramesh Pandotra (AAP), Vaid Raj Sharma (AAP), Mandeep Chowdhary (AAP), Nazir Ahmed Auqab, Maheshvar Vishwakarma and Jung Bahadur Sharma (DPAP) joined the Congress. Several leaders, who had left the Congress to join Azad’s party after he quit the grand old party and formed his own outfit, have rejoined the Congress since then.