Former advisor of Farooq Abdullah joins Cong

A former advisor of Union minister Farooq Abdullah whose name surfaced in the alleged scam in Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association was among 15 people who joined Congress today.
According to a list circulated by Congress General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi, the 15 people from Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh division were included by party President Sonia Gandhi after receiving suggestions about their joining.
Mohammed Aslam Goni, who hails from Baderwah tehsil of Jammu region, was advisor to Abdullah when he was the state chief Minister. However, after his name surfaced in JKCA's alleged scam, the National Conference President had started maintaining distance from him.

Controversy also emerged within minutes of release of the list which named General Secretary of PDP Thakur Balbir Singh among the persons who had joined the Congress.
While state Congress chief Saif-ud-din Soz claimed that Singh was a PDP leader, Singh, however, said that there was no such move.
Soz also said the party had agreed upon his suggestion about including the leaders and that he would be holding rallies in Jammu and Srinagar soon where he would be welcoming them formally.

Among others were former Director Information Farooq Renzu, Gurbachan Kaur, Ghulam Hasan Gilani and Tassaduq Hussain.
Significantly, some of the close associates of PDP leader Muzzafar Beig like Murtaza Khan and Bashir Ahmed Shah have also joined the Congress.

Others included Shafeeq Mir, Panchayat leader from Rajouri and Zahida Khan, daughter of a former Congress Minister and former bureaucrat.
Ghulam Hasan Rather, Gulzar Ahmed, Tafazul Hussain, Wali Mohammed and Mujeeeb Ali Sheikh also joined the party.