Srinagar, Aug 26 (IANS): Former Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) president, Dr. Farooq Abdullah said on Friday that the Congress has in the past also taken setbacks like Ghulam Nabi Azad's resignation and emerged stronger later.

Abdullah told the mediapersons that Azad may not have been getting the right treatment as earlier. Such kind of things have happened before also. The Congress will come back stronger and the country needs a strong opposition, he said.

NC vice president and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on his Twitter "Long rumoured to be in the offing but a body blow to the Congress none the less. Perhaps the senior most leader to quit the party in recent times, his resignation letter makes for very painful reading. It's sad, and quite scary, to see the grand old party of India implode."

Some PDP leaders said that the development was an internal issue of the Congress party while officially the party has not made any comment on this development.

Meanwhile, Azad loyalists continued to resign from the primary membership of the party. A former MLA Muhammad Amin Bhat also resigned on Friday.