Kathua/New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS): As a mark of show of strength, loyalists of former J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad held a rally at Dayala Chak in Kathua on Thursday.

The rally was organised a day after a dozen leaders of the Congress, loyal to Azad, resigned from their respective posts.

In the rally, Azad demanded restoration of statehood for J&K and attacked the Centre for bifurcating the erstwhile state of J&K into two Union Territories, something which even the Britishers did not dare to do.

The Congress leader, who is leading the G-23 in the Congress, has been upset for being reportedly sidelined from the party affairs, sources said.

His supporters said that only Azad can lead the party to victory in J&K, adding that the current state unit chief of the party is not making any effort to revive the Congress.

On Wednesday, several Azad loyallists in Jammu and Kashmir resigned as a mark of protest against the continuation of state Congress chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir.

The Azad loyalists want him to be appointed as state unit chief ahead of the Assembly polls in J&K.

The state leaders are reportedly miffed with Mir's style of functioning and his continuation in the post, despite Mir and his son losing in the Lok Sabha and District Development Council elections.

As per sources, the resentment is also against the party's top leadership for neglecting the deterioration of the party in the Union Territory.

The resignation letters read, "Sycophants have captured and hijacked the functioning of the state Congress."