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Congress, BJP continue to tradebarbs over Azad’s departure
Azad (73) ended his five-decade association with the Congress party on Friday, weeks before the Congress is set to elect a new president and undertake a grassroots connect campaign, Bharat Jodo Yatra. In a five-page letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister blamed the party for ignoring recommendations made by key panels and accused Rahul Gandhi for the 2014 electoral debacle.
The war of words over the resignation of veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad continued on Saturday, with party leaders insisting the move will cause “no loss”, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) calling the principal opposition party a “sinking ship”.
Azad (73) ended his five-decade association with the Congress party on Friday, weeks before the Congress is set to elect a new president and undertake a grassroots connect campaign, Bharat Jodo Yatra. In a five-page letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister blamed the party for ignoring recommendations made by key panels and accused Rahul Gandhi for the 2014 electoral debacle.
The Congress has termed Azad’s criticism unfortunate and questioned the timing of his resignation.
At a time when the party was preparing to take on the “misgovernance” of the BJP government, Azad has done the party a disservice, Congress leader Sachin Pilot said. “He 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,” Pilot said.
Azad was trying to harm the party and his exit would cause “no loss” to it, Chhattisgarh chief minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel said. “He was constantly trying to harm the party. Congress has given him full respect; made him a cabinet minister and chief minister. His exit will cause no loss to the party,” Baghel said at a media briefing.
Another senior Congress leader, Digvijaya Singh, tweeted: “Ghulam Nabi ji bhai jaan, which PA or security personnel of Rahul ji took the decision to make you the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha? Tell us this too.”
The move highlights the need for introspection and that a “crack” seems to have appeared between India and the Congress, party parliamentarian Manish Tewari said.
Tewari was among the 23 top Congress leaders who wrote to party chief Sonia Gandhi two years ago, seeking organisational changes. Two leaders of the block, now referred to as G23, have spoken out against the party leadership in the past week.
“Two years back, 23 of us wrote to Sonia Gandhi that the party’s situation is worrying and should be taken seriously. Congress lost all assembly polls after that letter. If Congress and India thought alike, it seems either of them has started thinking differently,” Tewari told news agency ANI.
The BJP, meanwhile, said Azad’s resignation highlighted the opposition party’s internal turmoil.
“The internal situation of the Congress has been clear for many years now. But in the end, Ghulam Nabi ji became free,” said Union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who quit the Congress and joined the BJP in 2020.
Azad has raised valid points while exiting the Congress, which is a “sinking ship,” Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said. “I think some questions raised by Azad were valid. However, it is their internal matter and I will not comment on it,” he told reporters in Nagpur.
Azad resigned from all positions in the Congress, including its primary membership, saying Rahul Gandhi was “immature” and “childish” and accused the leadership of “foisting a non-serious individual” at the helm of the party.
“Unfortunately, after the entry of Rahul Gandhi into politics and particularly after January 2013, when he was appointed as vice president by you, the entire consultative mechanism which existed earlier was demolished by him.” Azad said in the letter. “All senior and experienced leaders were sidelined and the new coterie of inexperienced sycophants started running the affairs of the party.”
Azad is the latest in a string of senior leaders to dump the party for reasons of moribund leadership, and political and organisational failures. He was among the most senior leaders of the party, having served as Union minister under four Prime Ministers and as chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir between 2002 and 2005. He also worked as the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha between 2014 and 2021.
