Ghulam Nabi Azad’s exit continues to rock Congress, party to hold key meet today

Some Congress leaders on Saturday criticised Azad for “targeted personal vilification” of Rahul Gandhi

The Congress Working Committee’s meeting on Sunday could see “G23” leaders such as Anand Sharma raise the issue of Ghulam Nabi Azad’s resignation from the party, functionaries hinted on Saturday, a day after the 73-year-old’s resignation dealt a blow to the principal opposition party just days before it is likely to elect a new chief.

Last week, Azad resigned as the campaign committee chairman in J&K and also a member of the political affairs committee there (PTI)

Azad and Sharma spoke for more than an hour on Saturday after the former wrote a five-page letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to resign from the party, a person aware of the matter said.

Some Congress leaders on Saturday criticised Azad for “targeted personal vilification” of Rahul Gandhi, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the senior leader raised valid questions. Azad has accused Rahul Gandhi of demolishing the Congress’s entire consultative mechanism and also pinned the blame on him for the 2014 electoral defeat.

Congress leader Sachin Pilot said that when the party was preparing to take on the “misgovernance” of the BJP government, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister stepped away from his responsibility. “He (Azad) held various posts for over 50 years and now, when there is a need for the country and the party to raise people’s issues, this was uncalled for,” said Pilot.

A leader in the “G23”, the group of 23 Congress leaders that wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi in 2020 calling for organisational reforms, maintained that while the CWC meeting on Sunday was set to discuss the schedule of the upcoming election of the party president, “some points of Azad’s letter, particularly those highlighting unfulfilled tasks, could be raised”.

In Azad’s resignation, the Congress lost yet another important face of the party, its top leader in J&K and a veteran with immense experience. The “G23” lost its key strategist and the resignation of Azad and Kapil Sibal from the Congress in the last four months has underlined its shrinking space in the party organisation, experts said.

A large number of Congress leaders reacted angrily at Azad’s departure and his letter to the Congress president accusing Rahul Gandhi of installing an inexperienced coterie.

Pilot said there was “targeted personal vilification” of Rahul Gandhi in Azad’s resignation letter.

India Youth Congress president BV Srinivas alleged Azad harmed the state units wherever he was the incharge and questioned why he did not quit the UPA government if he was unhappy with Rahul Gandhi’s decisions.

Accusing Azad of conspiring against the Congress, Srinivas also said he chose to write to Sonia Gandhi on both occasions when the party president “was unwell”. Sonia Gandhi is abroad for medical checkups and Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are accompanying her.

Azad’s departure just days before Rahul Gandhi’s ambitious “Bharat Jodo Yatra” exposes the troubles within the Congress ranks.

In the past three years, the Congress has lost important leaders, both young and senior. Jyotiraditya Scindia, Himanta Biswa Sarma, RPN Singh, Jitin Prasada, Hardik Patel — all considered close to the Congress high command — are now in the BJP. Senior leaders such as Kapil Sibal, Ashwani Kumar, Sunil Jakhar and now Azad have quit the party to explore different options.

Jakhar, the former Congress chief of Punjab, said: “It’s beginning of the end. What Mr Azad’s resignation signifies is that the Congress had it coming. They perpetuated this situation. It was the writing on the wall which they chose to ignore — whether it was Jyotiraditya Scindia, RPN Singh, Jitin Prasada and now Azad sa’ab.”

Rahul Gandhi would be pursued to return as the Congress president as there is none in the party other than him who has a countrywide appeal, veteran leader M Mallikarjun Kharge told PTI on Saturday. The Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said anyone aspiring to lead the party should be known throughout the country and enjoy support from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and West Bengal to Gujarat.

Azad’s departure is likely to hurt the “G23”. Azad was the closest to the party high command among the group. Sonia Gandhi sought his views on party reforms and the current J&K Congress chief was picked from the four names Azad suggested. “While the rebels hardly budged from their stand, he was treated differently. Azad still had a way with the party leaders. Before the recent reshuffle in the J&K unit, Azad was consulted four times,” said a leader, asking not to be named.

Former MP Sandip Dikshit shot off a letter to Azad on Friday and maintained that his resignation gave a sense of dismay in the party. Dikshit, who was part of “G23”, reminded Azad that it was “a banner of reform not of revolt”.

Congress leader Anand Sharma has termed Azad’s resignation as “very unfortunate”. “The Congress is gradually eroding,” he said.

With PTI inputs