Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 26: Exactly a month after he quit the Congress, the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday announced the nomenclature of his new political outfit as “Democratic Azad Party” quickly adding that his surname “Azad” has nothing to do with the party name. “It will not be autocratic but a democratic party,” he claimed.
“The DAP will be based on the principles of democracy. It will not be influenced by any outside leader or other party. It will have independent thinking and will stay independent in its decisions. It will not be autocratic and power will not be in one hand,” Azad, while addressing a press conference in Jammu, said.
The development comes exactly a month after Azad resigned from the Congress party on August 26. Announcing the name and flag of the new party, Azad said the outfit would be secular, democratic and independent from any influence. The party flag unveiled by him has three colours – mustard, white and blue.
Earlier Azad, in his first public meeting in Jammu after quitting Congress, had announced to launch of his own political outfit that will focus on the restoration of full statehood. He had said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir would decide the party’s name and flag.
“I’ve not decided upon a name for my party yet. The people of J-K will decide the party’s name and flag. I’ll give a Hindustani name to my party that everyone can understand,” he said at the rally after breaking away from his five-decade-long association with the grand old party.
“My party will focus on the restoration of full statehood, right to land, and employment to native domicile,” he added then. Azad said that the first unit of his political outfit would be formed in Jammu and Kashmir in view of impending assembly polls.
He lashed out at Congress and said people were trying to defame us (me and my supporters who left the party) but their reach is limited to computer tweets. Azad said, “Congress was made by us by our blood, not by computers, not by Twitter. People are trying to defame us but their reach is limited to computers and tweets.
Azad had been Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir from 2005 to 2008. He was Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha. Recounting his long association with the Congress, Azad had said the situation in the party has reached a point of “no return.”
However, none of the leaders from the G-23, a rebel group within the Congress that Azad led when he quit the party, was present at the launch of the DAP in Jammu nor any of them had followed him in deserting the Congress. Earlier, Azad had suggested launching a national level party rather than a regional party.
He tried to distance himself from the allegations that his regional party would be working at the behest of the BJP. Azad said, “Many people accused me of having a prior alliance. We only have the alliance with heart and minds and people of J&K and nobody else. We have not consulted anyone before launching the party, neither regional nor national party.”
Azad said his new party would borrow from the ideas and principles of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi. “Our party policy will not be influenced by politics of religion, caste or creed. It will follow the roadmap of Gandhi, who got India independence. My party’s name is Hindustani. Jawaharlal Nehru would say that a mix of Urdu and Hindi, spoken in our homes, is Hindustani. We respect all leaders and parties,” Azad said. “Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christians are just four chambers of a human heart,” he added.
About the flag of his party, he explained, “The mustard colour indicates creativity and unity in diversity, white indicates peace and blue indicates freedom, open space, imagination and limits from the depths of the ocean to the heights of the sky,” Azad said.
He said the party would keep holding grass-root level elections for its structure. “We are here to compete at our own level. I have no competition with any party. Will compete like students compete with each other in a classroom. We don’t have any enemy or foe,” he said, adding “50 per cent of tickets will be given to youth.”