Former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad rejected reports of him rejoining the "Grand Old Party."
"I am shocked to see the story filed by ANI correspondent about my rejoining in congress party. Unfortunately such stories are being planted by a section of leaders in the congress party right now and are doing this just to demoralise my leaders and supporters", Azad tweeted.
"I dont have any ill will against congress party and its leadership, however I request them to tell these habitual story planters to refrain from doing so. Once again I would like to insist that this story is completely baseless!" he added.
Earlier in the day, a report by the news agency ANI claimed that Azad would rejoin the party.
The veteran Congress leader quit his 52-year association with the "Grand Old Party" on August 26 and announced his new political party, the "Democratic Azad Party," in October.
During the recently concluded Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, the former Rajya Sabha MP claimed that only Congress could compete with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Meanwhile, Azad had also said that he was not against the party but had issues with the policies of the Congress.
After Azad's statement, the senior Congress leader and convenor of the party's ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra, Digvijaya Singh, invited Azad to be a part of the yatra. Following Singh's invitation, the G23 leaders—Akhilesh Prasad Singh and Bhupinder Singh—advocated his return to the Grand Old Party and invited him to join the yatra.
G-23 is a congressional rebel group that has called for major changes in the party.
According to the ANI sources, Ghulam Nabi Azad would join the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir. The second leg of the yatra will begin on January 3.
Azad, during his resignation, has made sharp attacks on the party and especially Rahul Gandhi, the former President of the Congress. Despite this, the party is making every possible attempt to bring Azad back "home."
Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and Ambika Soni have been tasked with bridging the gap between Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress. Soni is an old Gandhi loyalist and has good relations with Azad.
Azad, while resigning from the party, said that the situation in the party has reached a point of "no return." In his resignation letter to the then interim chief of the party, Sonia Gandhi, he claimed that a coterie runs the party while Sonia Gandhi was just "a nominal head" and all the major decisions were taken by "Rahul Gandhi, or rather worse, his security guards and PAs."