Former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad will launch his party in Jammu and Kashmir within two weeks, said his close friend GM Saroori. Saroori claimed that the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir posts by August 5, 2019, will be part of the party’s manifesto.

“I’m not in a rush to form a National Party right now, but keep in mind that elections may be held in Jammu and Kashmir, and I’ve decided to set up a unit there soon,” said Azad, from the Badwa township district said.

Azad, a former Rajya Sabha opposition leader, union minister under successive prime ministers and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, declined to give any further details on the formation of the new party.

In addition, eight senior party leaders, including three former ministers, resigned as key party members. Former ministers RS Chib, GM Saroori and Abdul Rashid; former MLA Mohammad Amin Bhat, Gulzar Ahmad Wani and Choudhary Mohammad Akram; former MLC Naresh Gupta and party leader Salman Nizami resigned with Azad’s backing, media reported.

Azad resigned from all party positions, including its key members, on August 26. In a five-page letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi ahead of key party elections, Azad said he was doing so with a “heavy heart”.