Ghulam Nabi Azad's effigy burnt in Jammu after he praises PM Modi

Congress workers also said that he didn't come for DDC election campaigning but was now praising the prime minister

A day after senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad heaped praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the party’s G-23 event in Jammu, angry party workers Monday burned the Congress stalwart’s effigies and demanded his removal from the party.

The G-23 event was organised by the Gandhi Global Family, chaired by Azad, but the party’s Jammu and Kashmir unit was given a snub.

Visuals surfaced on social media where Congress workers were seen raising slogans against Azad and burning his effigies in Jammu city. The protesting workers reportedly said that the party held Azad, in high esteem “but today when it's time to support it, he forged a friendship with the BJP.”

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Azad, who recently retired as Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, on Sunday while appreciating Modi for never hiding the fact that he hails from a village and used to sell tea, drew parallels between himself and the Prime Minister. This upset the party’s J&K unit chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir who rushed to New Delhi to meet the party top brass to apprise them about the development.

The pro-Modi remarks by Azad came a day after Congress rebels Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, BS Hooda, Manish Tewari, Raj Babbar and Vivek Tankha, publicly called the party weak and pledged to strengthen it.

Earlier in February, before his farewell in the Rajya Sabha, Azad while speaking during the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address, said that Modi was the only person who can find a solution to the problems of Jammu and Kashmir. The Congress veteran also congratulated the Modi government for conducting District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu and Kashmir successfully.

While bidding a tearful farewell to Azad on February 9 in the Upper House, the Prime Minister said that he respects the Congress leader as a “true friend” and will not let him retire, and will continue taking his advice.”

Modi’s appreciation of Azad has since shifted the focus of Kashmir politics onto the veteran Congress leader.