In a major setback to the National Conference in Jammu, two prominent leaders Devendra Rana and Surjit Singh Salathia resigned from the party on Sunday. He is likely to join the BJP in Delhi on Monday. “Dr Farooq Abdullah has received and accepted the resignations of Mr. Salathia and Mr. Rana. No further action or comment is deemed necessary,” tweeted a National Conference spokesperson.
Rana, who was the NC’s provincial president for the Jammu region, announced his decision to quit the National Conference during a brief interaction with media persons outside his home, prompting a week-long urge to quit his party and join the BJP. The speculation was quelled.
“I have resigned from the original membership of the National Conference along with (senior party colleague and former minister) SS Salathia,” he told reporters. Rana, younger brother of former MLA and Union minister Jitendra Singh, took over the post of provincial. President of the National Conference in 2011 after leaving his post as political advisor to the then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Rana, who was considered the backbone of the National Conference in Jammu province, said, “Now the voice of Jammu and Kashmir will come from Jammu which should get its rightful place.” He said his political philosophy would be based on the proposed Jammu Declaration. .
Rana said his only concern was the interest of Jammu and the wishes and aspirations of the people of the region. He said, ‘Jammu Declaration’ is an effort in this direction where all sections of people including political parties need to come together.
Rana had on January 30 proposed a charter ‘Jammu Declaration’ to build unity and strengthen trust among different communities and different regions of Jammu and Kashmir. Rana had said that the core of the declaration would be to involve people in intra-regional and intra-regional dialogue to remove the mistake being made by divisive forces on the basis of region and religion.
Asked whether his leaving the National Conference was a big loss for the party, he said people come and go and hence the resignation of both the leaders will not affect him as NC is a very big party. “I have good relations with both (NC President) Farooq Abdullah and (Vice President) Omar Abdullah,” he said.
After proposing the Jammu manifesto, Rana had said that the BJP was the only party that had given a big response to it. Meanwhile, the NC nominated senior leader Ratan Lal Gupta as the provincial president of Jammu till elections to the post are held on October 16.
“Party General Secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar has issued a notification regarding the election of the Provincial Presidents of Jammu and the Valley to be held on October 16,” the spokesman said. Senior party leaders Chaudhry Mohammad Ramzan and Ali Mohammad Dar have been nominated for the post, he said. Election Officer for Kashmir Province and Sheikh Mustafa Kamal and Anil Dhar for Jammu Province.
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