Co-operate with me; I am here to strengthen Congress: Soz

Jammu, Feb 21 (UNI) Newly-appointed Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Saiffudin Soz today said that he was here to ''strengthen'' the party up to grassroot level and sought ''cooperation'' from the masses, party workers and senior leaders as well.

Mr Soz, after his arrival before taking the charge of state party affairs, while addressing a gathering outside party headquarters here said he has come to the state with a mission, which cannot be fulfilled without the cooperation of people and the party members.

''I am here to distribute ''love'' and ''brotherhood''to the people of all the three regions of the state and in return I seek only ''cooperation'' to strengthen Congress party from grassroots to a higher level,'' Mr Soz said.

''I have a 25-year political experience, which I gained from the ground level workers. I feel that political leaders should strengthen their parties from grass root,'' Mr Soz said, adding that any political party with strong base appears as a hard nut to crack.

The JKPCC president said his mission was to ''unite'' people representing Congress in Jammu and Kashmir, adding, ''It took years for me to choose a genuine political party but finally I opted for Congress, which is a party with people's agendas and it was the best decision I ever made in my life.'' ''Congress is the only party that can run the government at the Centre,'' Mr Soz said, adding that this party had united people from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

Lauding UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Mr Soz said he was thankful to Ms Gandhi for appointing him as JKPCC president. ''I have no words to express my gratitude to Ms Sonia Gandhi for showing confidence and trust in me and nominating me as a JKPCC president. I will try to promote and unite Congress at one platform.'' Earlier, Mr Soz was welcomed by senior Congress leaders and party workers at Jammu airport. Hundreds of workers accompanied his cavalcade and garlanded him on his arrival in the Winter Capital.

Professor Saifuddin Soz is a cabinet minister in the Ministry of Water Resources in the Central government.

Born on November 23, 1937, Mr Soz hails from Jammu and Kashmir.

He was also the Union Minister of Environment and Forests in the nineties as well as is a long-time Member of Parliament.

In January 2006, he was nominated to the Congress Working Committee.

UNI VBH SP AS1652