Democratic Azad Party (DAP) chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Saturday that as long as voters are with him, he is not worried about leaders leaving the party.
His comments came after several of his colleagues quit the DAP and returned to the Congress. Azad said that he has come to Jammu and Kashmir after seeing the plight of the people here and he is not dependent on the leaders.
He said, ‘I am not worried that 10 or 12 leaders go to Delhi. As long as the voter is with me, I am not worried about the leaders. You (voters) make leaders. I used to give tickets, you made them win…” “Now those who give tickets and those who make them win have come together. Let’s see how many will win,” Azad said at a party function.
On Friday, 17 DAP leaders including former JK deputy chief minister Tara Chand and former JKPCC chief Peerzada Mohd Sayeed joined the Congress in Delhi.
‘Not trusting leaders’
He said that the leaders who have left his party, “by the grace of God, they will face worse conditions in their constituencies.” Azad said that he has not come to Jammu and Kashmir on the trust of the leaders, but has come for the people. “I have come here seeing your sorrows, your troubles. I have come back seeing poverty, unemployment.
“Our people are living in an atmosphere of fear. No one knows when someone will be arrested, when people’s land, house or house will be taken away, there is no guarantee. No leader or political party raises voice against it. So, I left everything to come here,” he said.
The former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir said that there is no corner of the country or Jammu and Kashmir where he has not visited and helped people. He has the courage as well as the “acquaintance and influence” to use them for the betterment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, he added.
“People tell me that I have done 10 times the development work at a particular place that I remember. And when I left everything to come here, you also gave me 10 times more love and affection. I don’t have wealth, but I have programs. I have courage, I have acquaintance, I have influence, which I can use for the betterment of this state, for the employment of its youth.