Veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad - whose exit from the Congress has plunged the party into a fresh crisis - has signaled about his next political move in his five-page resignation letter. The 73-year-old former union minister’s departure from the Congress has bared the internal rifts at a time when the party has been trying to refresh its strategies ahead of the 2024 national elections. His resignation has sparked buzz about a new political party that may be floated.
Ghulam Nabi Azad - who was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian award, earlier this year - elaborated on his 52-year-long political journey with the Congress, “close personal relationship” with former PM Indira Gandhi and other key milestones as he simultaneously lashed out at Rahul Gandhi and blamed him for the party’s problems.
The party "has lost both the will and the ability under the tutelage of the coterie that runs the AICC to fight for what is right for India,” he claimed. “In fact, before starting the Bharath Jodo (unite India) Yatra, the leadership should have undertaken a Congress Jodo (unite Congress) excercise across the country,” read the acrimonious note, referring to the mass-contact programme the Congress is set to launch.
Shedding light on what may be viewed as his next political move, Azad wrote: “Some of my other colleagues and I will now persevere to perpetuate the ideals for which we have dedicated our entire adult lives outside the fold of the Indian National Congress.”
{{/usCountry}}Shedding light on what may be viewed as his next political move, Azad wrote: “Some of my other colleagues and I will now persevere to perpetuate the ideals for which we have dedicated our entire adult lives outside the fold of the Indian National Congress.”
{{/usCountry}}Last year, Amarinder Singh had stepped down as the Punjab chief minister and quit the Congress amid troubles with Navjot Singh Sidhu. This was just months before the state elections. Soon after, he floated a new party and fought the state polls in collaboration with the BJP.
Meanwhile, Haryana leader Kuldeep Singh Bishnoi on Friday - soon after Azad's resignation was announced - said the former J&K CM was "welcome to join the BJP". Bishnoi had also left the grand old party to join the BJP recently.
Azad's letter also mentions the BJP. He said it was “unfortunate” that the Congress “has conceded national space to the BJP” and “state space to regional parties”.