A month after quitting Congress, Ghulam Nabi Azad launches his own party 'Democratic Azad Party' in Jammu

Veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday announced the name of his own party, the 'Democratic Azad Party', in Jammu, exactly a month after ending his more than five-decade-long association with the grand old party last month.

Unveiling the party flag, Azad said, "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."

The development comes a day after the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister held meetings with his workers and leaders.

Earlier, Azad, in his first public meeting in Jammu after quitting the Sonia Gandhi-led party, 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 will decide the name and the flag for the 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.

"My party will focus on the restoration of full statehood, right to land, and employment to native domicile," he added.

He lashed out at Congress and said that people are trying to defame us (me and my supporters who left the party) but their reach is limited to computer tweets.

Ghulam Nabi Azad quits Congress

Azad resigned from the all-party post last week. Notably, he has been Chief Minister of J-K from 2005 to 2008.

In his resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi, he had targeted party leadership, particularly Rahul Gandhi, over the way the party has been run in the past nearly nine years.

In the hard-hitting five-page letter, 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".

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 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." While Azad took potshots at Sonia Gandhi in the letter, his sharpest attack was on Rahul Gandhi and he described the Wayand MP as a "non-serious individual" and "immature".