Don't worry about leaders till voters are with me: Ghulam Nabi Azad

Srinagar: Democratic Azad Party (DAP) chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday said he does not worry about leaders leaving his party till voters are with him.

His remarks come after several of his colleagues left the DAP and switched back to the Congress.

Azad said he has come to Jammu and Kashmir after seeing miseries of the people here and he does not “rely” on leaders.

“I do not worry whether 10 or 12 leaders go to Delhi. Till the time the voters are with me, I do not worry for the leaders. You (voters) make the leaders. I used to give tickets, you made them win…" “Now, those who used to give tickets and those who made them win have come together. Let us see how many will win,” Azad said at a party function here.

On Friday 17 DAP leaders, including former J-K deputy chief minister Tara Chand and former JKPCC chief Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, rejoined the Congress in Delhi.

He said the leaders who have left his party “will face worse in their own constituencies, god willing”.

Azad said he has not come to J-K relying on leaders, but has come for the people.

“I have come here after seeing your miseries, your troubles. I have come back after seeing the poverty, unemployment.

“Our people are living in an atmosphere of fear. When will someone be arrested, no one knows, when will people’s land, building or house be snatched, there is no guarantee. No leader or political party raises voice against it. So, I left everything to come here,” he said.

The former J-K chief minister said there is no corner of the country or Jammu and Kashmir which he has not visited and where he has not helped the people.

He said he has the courage as well as the “acquaintance and influence” to use that for the betterment of the people of J-K.

“People tell me that I have done 10 times the developmental work than I remember at a particular place. And when I left everything to come here, you also gave me 10 times the love and affection. I do not have any wealth, but I have programmes. I have the courage, I have the acquaintance, the influence, which I can use for the betterment of this state, for the employment of its youth,” Azad said.