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GN Azad, however, avoided commenting on Indira Gandhi and Rajeev Gandhi. (File)
Bhaderwah:
Former Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who recently ended his five-decade-long association with the Congress, said he only retaliated with a rifle when the leaders from his former party fired missiles at him.
Addressing a public rally in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bhaderwah on Thursday, Mr Azad said, “They (Congress) fired missiles on me, I only retaliated with a 303 rifle and they were destroyed. What would have happened had I used a ballistic missile? they must disappear.”
However, he avoided commenting on the late Indira Gandhi and Rajeev Gandhi.
“Since I have been a member of the party for 52 years and consider Rajeev Gandhi to be my brother and Indira Gandhi to be my mother, I have no desire to even use words against them,” he said.
In his first public meeting in Jammu after quitting the Congress, Mr Azad announced that he will launch his own political outfit that would focus on the restoration of full statehood.
“I’ve not decided upon a name for my party yet. The people of Jammu and Kashmir will decide the name and the flag for the party. I’ll give a Hindustani name to my party that everyone can understand,” he said.
Mr Azad was the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir during 2005-2008.
On August 26, in a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, he resigned from all positions of Congress including its primary membership. In the letter, he targeted party leadership, particularly Rahul Gandhi, over the way the party has been run in the past nine years.
In the hard-hitting five-page letter, Mr Azad had claimed that a coterie runs the party while Sonia Gandhi was just “a nominal head” and all the major decisions were taken by “Rahul Gandhi or rather worse, his security guards and PAs”.
Mr Azad had said he was submitting his resignation with “great regret and an extremely leaden heart” and severing his 50-year association with the Congress. He was earlier the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.
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