‘Those who call us BJP's B team…’: Ghulam Nabi Azad's sharp response to NC, PDP allegations

Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday responded to the accusations that his party work as the B team of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir said that he has never taken the help of the BJP, while the people criticising him have served as ministers and Chief Ministers in BJP's A team.

"Those who call us B team have also been ministers and chief ministers in BJP's A team. has neither been a minister nor a chief minister with the help of BJP... Do those parties call themselves A team or Super A team?..." DPAP chief Ghulam Nabi Azad said.

Ghulam Nabi Azad's remarks came amid intense political development in the Valley where the two main parties in People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD)- and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are fighting the Lok Sabha elections 2024 alone.

Azad left Congress in 2022 to float his own political outfit-Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) and has been criticised by the regional parties of for being in cahoots with the BJP. The political leaders have questioned the proximity between Ghulam Nabi Azad and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who even praised the leader in Rajya Sabha.

Ghulam Nabi Azad asked the regional parties of Jammu and Kashmir to do some soul-searching and check the records of to see how vociferous he was against the BJP.

Speaking on the recent visit by the officials, Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are expected to be conducted after the Lok Sabha elections 2024, but the ECI official's visit was "routine."

"We have been waiting for the Assembly polls for years. We hope that the polls take place immediately after the parliamentary election. I think the