In a scathing attack on the opposition, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar on Friday said that he doubts that the resignation letter of Gulam Nabi Azad has been authored by him and asserted or someone else in another party.
"Though I was travelling in the day, but I was able to read the resignation letter Gulam Nabi Azad has written. And if you see the first two pages he has only written about the number of positions he has held in the last 47 years that the Congress Party has given him. He has been the Chief Minister of one state, central minister multiple times, leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Party general secretary of almost all the states in our country at some point or another, and member of the Congress working committee for the last 30 plus years, this is what the party has given him and after reading the letter I doubt that the letter has been authored by him or someone else in another party," said Shivakumar.
Also read: Ghulam Nabi Azad quits in big blow to Congress, attacks ‘non-serious’ Rahul Gandhi
{{/usCountry}}Also read: Ghulam Nabi Azad quits in big blow to Congress, attacks ‘non-serious’ Rahul Gandhi
{{/usCountry}}Shivakumar also slammed Gulam Nabi Azad over his resignation from the party and said that if the latter had issues he could have raised them rather than being a mute spectator.
"Ghulam Nabi Azad while being in Congress enjoyed power in the last 40 years either in party or in government. If he had issues, he could have raised them but he was a mute spectator. As he didn't get a Rajya Sabha seat he took such a step," he said.
Highlighting that Azad in his letter has mentioned about the experience of some of the younger leaders, the Congress leader further asked, "Azad was he born experienced? When he joined the party during Indira Gandhi's time was he experienced? The answer is- he joined the party, gained experience, and that is how he became a tall leader."
Also read: Ghulam Nabi Azad blames Rahul Gandhi for Congress troubles, flags 'immaturity'
"Azad has also mentioned his disagreement with Rahul Gandhi's resignation as AICC resident after 2019. I want to ask him why he has not expressed his disagreement and protest in the AICC at that very point and why is he speaking about this today. m Azad has also mentioned his displeasure over the ordinance incident. I again want to ask why he not object in 2013. Now I will tell you why he did not speak then and is speaking now. What has changed in 2013 and 2022?" he added.
He said that in 2013 Azad was a member of the union cabinet and was a part of the decision-making process and body.
"In 2019 when Rahul Gandhi resigned, even then Azad was a member of Rajya Sabha and leader of opposition in the upper house which the congress party gave him and he was enjoying the perks that came with the position that the Congress party gave. Today he is not a part of that process, body or a member of Rajya Sabha," said Shivakumar.
Shivakumar said that Congress is a big national caravan and people will come and people will go but it will continue to move forward.
"Today in 2022 when the congress party is going through a crisis nationally and Azad does not get a Rajya Sabha seat, he suddenly woke up and realized that his conscience is saying something different? Congress is a big national caravan and people will come and people will go but it will continue to move forward. If he was not agreeing with the party he should have just resigned. But unfortunately, he is not speaking on his own," he said.
The Congress leader said that the party have gone through a lot of ups and downs but the leaders have always stuck together and always will be together with the Congress party.
"We have gone through a lot of ups and downs but we have always stuck together, and always will be together with the Congress party. But I am deeply saddened and hurt by the way Azad has expressed his outburst against the party which gave him everything," he added.
Earlier today, Azad cited the "immaturity" of Rahul Gandhi whom he blamed for "demolishing the consultative mechanism" in the party, as a reason behind quitting the party.
In a hard-hitting 5 page note to party interim president Sonia Gandhi, Azad claimed that a coterie runs the party while she was just a nominal head and all the major decisions were taken by "Shri Rahul Gandhi or rather worse his security guards and PAs"
The development comes days after Azad resigned from the organisational post of Jammu and Kashmir.
Recounting his long association with the Congress and his close relationship with Indira Gandhi, Azad said the situation in the Congress party has reached a point of "no return."
"The entire organisational election process is a farce and a sham. At no place anywhere in the country have elections been held at any level of the organisation. Handpicked lieutenants of the AICC have been coerced to sign on lists prepared by the coterie that runs the AICC sitting in 24 Akbar Road," Azad wrote.
Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi, Azad wrote, "Since the 2019 elections the situation in the party has only worsened. After. Rahul Gandhi stepped down in a 'huff' and not before insulting all the senior Party functionaries who have given their lives to the party in a meeting of the extended Working Committee, you took over as interim President. A position that you have to continued to hold even today for the past three years."
Azad said that it was "worse still the 'remote control model' that demolished the institutional integrity of the UPA government now got applied to the Indian National Congress."