New Delhi, Jan 6 (IANS): After a brief association with Ghulam Nabi Azad's DPA, 17 leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand resigned from the party and returned to the Congress on Friday.

After rejoining the Congress, Tara Chand said, "I had an emotional relationship with Ghulam Nabi Azad and decided to quit the party to go with him, and now when emotions are down I decided to come back to our party which has given so much to us."

When asked about Azad, Tara Chand said that "only he can tell why he had left the party".

Chand along with Peerzada Mohd. Sayeed, former PCC President; Thakur Balwan Singh (former MLA & ex-General Secretary DAP); Mohd. Muzaffar Parray, former MLC and Senior Advocate Supreme Court; Mohinder Bhardwaj (Sr Advocate J&K & Ladakh High Court, three-time President BAR Association Jammu, former member Working Committee, DAP) and other leaders rejoined the Congress.

All these leaders had joined the Democratic Azad Party (DPA) of Ghulam Nabi Azad when he had launched it.

Announcing the induction K.C. Venugopal said, "The leaders are back because of Bharat Jodo Yatra and now will walk with Rahul Gandhi to fight the divisive forces."

On December 30, the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad rejected the reports about his rejoining the Congress as "completely baseless" and alleged this was to demoralise his party workers.

Expressing "shock" at the reports in a section of media in this regard, Azad, in a tweet, said: "... 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.

"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."