Devendra Singh Rana , who is a former close aide of Omar Abdullah and Provincial President of Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (NC), on Sunday resigned from the primary membership of the party.
Rana is the younger brother of the Minister of State in the PMO Dr Jitendra Singh.
Along with him another senior party leader Surjit Singh Slathia also resigned from all his positions in NC with immediate effect. Confirming this political development the NC tweeted, “Dr Farooq Abdullah has received & accepted the resignations of Mr Salathia & Mr Rana. No further action or comment is deemed necessary.”
Rana, who had worked closely with former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as his political advisor, is tipped to join the Bharatiya Janata Party in the national Capital on Monday.
Speaking to The Pioneer over telephone, three-time J&K Legislator Rana said, “Yes, I have resigned from the NC. You will get to know about my next move soon”. After making the formal announcement in Jammu, Rana left for New Delhi.
For about one week speculations were rife in the political quarters about Rana’s next political move.
It is learnt differences had cropped up between him and the top brass of the party ever since he vociferously started batting for fulfilling the political aspirations of the people belonging to the Jammu region. A section of leaders based in Kashmir had raised objections over his political statements from Jammu. Rana even visited Srinagar and met JKNC President Dr Farooq Abdullah and Vice-President Omar Abdullah. However, he later claimed he went there only to condole the demise of a close relative of Abdullah’s.
