New Delhi The Congress on Friday hit out at Ghulam Nabi Azad after the veteran leader’s resignation from the party, throwing a volley of allegations ranging from “collaboration” with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to questioning the timing of the resignation letter.
In their initial response, Congress leaders termed the resignation as “most unfortunate and regrettable” and referred to Azad as a “very senior, veteran Congress leader”, with one of them saying, “When all Congress leaders are fighting against price rise on the streets, when we have launched a frontal attack on the BJP, it is unfortunate Ghulam Nabi Azad has quit the Congress at this stage. There is no doubt, Rahul Gandhi is the most vocal against the BJP.”
But within an hour, the Congress changed its tone and attacked Azad’s alleged links with the BJP.
“The person whom the Congress leadership respected the most, that person has shown his true character by making a personal attack on the Congress leadership. First Modi’s tears in Parliament, then Padma Vibhushan, then the extension of the house… It’s not a coincidence, it’s a collaboration!” the party’s communications chief Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter.
The party fielded another veteran, former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijaya Singh, to attack Azad. “It might be possible that those people who scrapped Article 370 in J&K have now developed a good relation with you. In your letter you spoke about the need of ‘Congress jodo’. Instead, you have indulged in ‘Congress todo’, I condemn it,” Singh said.
{{/usCountry}}The party fielded another veteran, former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijaya Singh, to attack Azad. “It might be possible that those people who scrapped Article 370 in J&K have now developed a good relation with you. In your letter you spoke about the need of ‘Congress jodo’. Instead, you have indulged in ‘Congress todo’, I condemn it,” Singh said.
{{/usCountry}}In another tweet, Jairam said, “A man who has been treated with the greatest respect by the Congress leadership has betrayed it by his vicious personal attacks which reveals his true character. GNA’s DNA has been modi-fied.”
Party spokesperson Pawan Khera said, “In his five-page letter, he spoke about his own positions for 2 pages. His Rajya Sabha tenure barely ended but he can’t stay without a post.”
Launching a scathing attack on Azad, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said, “Earlier also Sonia Gandhi was unwell. When they wrote a letter, people took it otherwise that when the leader is ill and admitted in hospital, why such a letter was written. Now when she has gone to America for a check-up, what message do you want to convey by writing a letter?”
“I am saying a sensitive thing, that our leader, who came to politics because of our pressure in 1996. Writing a letter when she is ill and away for a check-up, I believe is against human sentiments,” Gehlot said, addressing newspersons after a function in Jaipur.
He pointed out that Azad, who enjoyed various positions in the last 42 years, was believed to be a “sycophant” during the era of Sanjay Gandhi.
“They were also called sycophants during Sanjay Gandhi’s time. Today they are calling others chaplus (sycophants). Then, Azad and others who were with Sanjay Gandhi also were believed to be sycophants. But Sanjay Gandhi did not pay heed, because of which Azad became such a big leader. If Sanjay Gandhi had removed them in pressure as they are expecting from Rahul Gandhi, then nobody in the country would know the names of Azad and other leaders,” he said.
Two senior Congress leaders said that the party decided to step up its attack on Azad as part of its strategy to underline his growing proximity with the ruling dispensation and how his resignation came at a crucial time when the Congress party is set to launch its ambitious Bharat Jodo yatra and a rally against price rise in the heart of Delhi.
Last week, Azad resigned as the campaign committee chairman in J&K and also a member of the political affairs committee there. His seven-year tenure as the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha ended in February 2021. But the Congress didn’t try to bring him back.
Privately, a few leaders admitted that Azad’s departure is perhaps the biggest setback to the Congress after the 2019 general elections result. While the party suffered a steady stream of exits, particularly of young leaders, in the past few years, Azad’s resignation came at a time when the Congress is trying to intensify its protests against the BJP and with just two years left for the all-important general elections of 2024.