Jammu, March 16 Former minister Gharu Ram rejoined the Congress along with his supporters here on Monday, pledging to work for strengthening the party at the grassroots level, a party spokesman said.
Jammu and Kashmir PCC chief Tariq Hameed Karra, working president Raman Bhalla, and president of District Congress Committee (Jammu Rural) Neeraj Kundan warmly welcomed Ram into the party.
Ram had joined the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) ahead of the 2024 assembly elections in the Union Territory.
"The Congress party believes in strengthening the people and is committed to equitable development of J&K," Karra said, while taking a dig at the policies of the BJP-led central government.
He said the Congress has been a pioneer in implementing revolutionary programmes aimed at improving the conditions of the people, especially those living in remote and backward areas.
"The BJP dispensation (at the Centre) is anti-poor, anti-youth, and anti-farmer, and due to its wrong policies, the suffering of the people has increased manifold. The insensitive government has pushed the people to the wall, as unemployment has increased, prices have risen, and developmental activities have suffered a lot," he alleged.
Karra also claimed that the Centre has pushed J&K back in all sectors during the last more than 10 years of its rule.
Bhalla said that people who want to contribute to the political discourse and development of J&K must become part of the Congress's growth story.
"The doors are open for the people who want to contribute in the party's efforts to get J&K out of the present mess and fight for the restoration of statehood," he said.
He added that the Congress is committed for the people's cause and will always uphold their aspirations and sentiments.
Bhalla alleged that BJP's "communal and divisive" politics has caused great harm to J&K, and all secular forces must unite and come on a common platform to fight the divisive forces.
