‘I joined Congress 51 years ago….feel’: Anand Sharma

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Sharma lashed out at the top leadership for “humiliating” him by not consulting or inviting him to core party meetings.

Former Union minister and prominent G23 leader Anand Sharma on Sunday resigned as chairman of the Congress’s steering committee for the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, alleging “continuing exclusion and insults”. His resignation came days after another leader of the G23 grouping, Ghulam Nabi Azad, quit two party panels of the Jammu and Kashmir unit.

Former Union minister and prominent G23 leader Anand Sharma.(File photo)

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Sharma lashed out at the top leadership for “humiliating” him by not consulting or inviting him to core party meetings. He says he is confident of having the support of the entire unit in Himachal Pradesh.

Edited excerpts:

Can you explain to us the context of your tweets (alleging insults and exclusion) today?

I have written to the Congress president (Sonia Gandhi) and I was just confirming that I have resigned. I did not ask to be made the chairman of the steering committee. Nobody asked me, nobody consulted me. When I was appointed, I asked for clarity of mandate because I am a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and now also a member of the political affairs committee of the CWC. There was no clarity about my role, particularly about the selection of candidates and formulation of the Congress strategy (for the polls). It’s been three months and nobody has responded, and on top of that, there were meetings of A core group in Delhi and Shimla. I don’t know which core group but it excluded me. I was humiliated.

Then the central observers were sent. I spoke to (Chhattisgarh chief minister) Bhupesh Baghel and others and said, ‘You’re going to my hometown and my state but no one has called me’. If you look at the list of programmes, it excludes me clinically. How could I deliver when I’m excluded even from meetings? And by whom? I have been a member of the general house in Himachal from the days of Yashwant Singh Parmar as chief minister. There is nobody else of my seniority. I joined Congress 51 years ago and you humiliate me. Only because Ghulam Nabi Azad and I had taken up certain issues which are fundamental for the renewal and revival of the Congress, as part of what is known as the G23. I was vilified. I am a grassroot leader, I am going back to Himachal.

But just the other day we saw you at a Congress party briefing?

I am a Congressman and will remain a Congressman until my death. That’s a separate issue and let’s not mix up the two.

Did Mrs Gandhi respond to you?

As of now, no. She has my letter, I am waiting for her response. I am sure it would have registered with her but it’s sadthat she’s allowed this situation to develop. I have respect for her.

Has anyone else from the party reached out to you?

Nobody. None. Who would respond to me? Someone of my seniority, no respect has been given so far.

So what next?

I am going to Himachal and my supporters will rally. Let these buffoons who are ruining the party, send all of them (to Himachal). Can they fight the BJP there? Only I can or my supporters. The entire party, irrespective of factions, stands with me in Himachal.

Next month we are supposed to have a new Congress president. What do you see happening?

I am not getting into that. On that, we will take a separate position at a different time.

Are other G23 signatories also thinking of similar moves?

We collectively fought for internal reforms and collective leadership. Collective leadership cannot exclude Shashi Tharoor or Ghulam Nabi Azad or Anand Sharma or Manish Tewari or Bhupinder Hooda. What crime did we commit? Look at the history of the Congress, it has been a collective.

There are some in the Congress who say you are upset because you did not get a Rajya Sabha extension?

That would be an ultimate insult. How many months have passed? Are you connecting it to the Rajya Sabha? And Rajya Sabha was fought, who have they given it to? I earned it, don’t forget it.

And did Pratibha Singh ask for your help?

I have spoken to her and I have respect for her because (former Himachal chief minister) Virbhadra Singh ji and I had no differences. We were both cabinet ministers and senior leaders and don’t forget that I am the only member of the working committee.

Will we see some action here?

I’m not worried. It’s for others to respond. It would be a blunder on their part to humiliate me further.