Big tweak to Farooq in Kashmir: Two key party leaders to join BJP today

Jammu: The National Conference, one of the most important political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, and its supremo Dr. Farooq Abdullah suffered a major setback on Sunday as two of his party's most important leaders, Devendra Rana and Sukhwinder Singh, split and resigned. It is said that the two leaders will join the BJP in New Delhi on Monday.

The party supremo Dr. Farooq Abdullah received the resignations of the two leaders and accepted them. No further comment was needed, a National Conference spokesman said in a tweet on his Twitter account. Devendra Rana was the Jammu region president of the National Conference.

For the past several days, there has been speculation in political circles that Rana will resign from the National Conference and join the BJP. He announced his decision to split with the party in front of 56 cars. "I and my senior colleague and former minister Sukhwinder Singh Slathia have resigned from the primary membership of the National Conference," Rana told 56 cars in no uncertain terms.

Devendra Rana, younger brother of Union Minister Jitendra Singh and a former MLA, took over as Jammu region president of the National Congress in 2011. Prior to that, he served as a political adviser to then-Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.