Gourav Vallabh joins BJP: 7 things about former Congress spokesperson and why he resigned

Gourav Vallabh resigns: The ex-Congress spokesperson came to the limelight after he cornered BJP's Sambit Patra on a TV debate on Indian economy.

Gourav Vallabh, Congress leader and spokesperson, on Thursday, April 4, tendered his resignation from all party posts ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, adding to the long list of Congress leaders who quit the party recently.

Former Congress leader Gourav Vallabh joins BJP in the presence of BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde ahead of Lok Sabha elections in New Delhi on April 4. (PTI)

Hours later, Gourav Vallabh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Former Bihar Congress president Anil Sharma also joined the BJP in the presence of its national general secretary Vinod Tawde.

In his resignation letter, Gourav Vallabh said, “I do not feel comfortable with the directionless way in which the Congress party is moving forward. I can neither raise anti-Sanatana slogans nor abuse the wealth creators of the country. I am resigning from all posts and primary membership of the Congress party.”

What did Gourav Vallabh write in his resignation letter?

• In the resignation letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Hindi, Gourav Vallabh said, “I am a professor of finance. After joining the Congress, the party made me the national spokesperson… But for the last few days, I have been feeling uncomfortable with the party's stand. When I joined the Congress party, I believed that the Congress was the oldest party in the country. Where young, intellectual people and their ideas are valued. But in the last few years, I realised that the current form of the party is not able to adjust itself with the youth with new ideas.”
• “The ground-level connection of the party has been completely broken, which is not able to understand the aspiration of the new India at all. Due to this, neither the party is able to come to power nor it is able to play the role of a strong opposition. This discourages a worker like me. It is very difficult to bridge the gap between big leaders and grassroots workers, which is politically necessary. Unless a worker can give direct suggestions to his leader, no positive change is possible.”
• “I am upset with the stand of the Congress party in the consecration of Lord Shri Ram in Ayodhya. I am a Hindu by birth and a teacher by profession. This stand of the party always made me uncomfortable and troubled. Many people associated with the party and the alliance speak against Sanatana, and the party remaining silent on it is like giving tacit approval to it.”
• “These days, the party is moving in the wrong direction. On one hand, we talk about the caste-based census and on the other hand, we are seen opposing the entire Hindu society. This working style is giving a misleading message to the public that the party is a supporter of a particular religion only. This is against the basic principles of the Congress.”
• “At present, Congress's stand on economic matters has been to humiliate and abuse the wealth creators of the country. Today, we have turned against those economic liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation policies, for which the world has given us full credit for implementing in the country.”

Who is Gourav Vallabh?

• Gourav Vallabh is a professor at the Xavier School of Management (XLRI) in Jamshedpur.
• In the 2023 Rajasthan assembly election, Gourav Vallabh contested from the Udaipur constituency. Despite his efforts, the BJP candidate, Tarachand Jain, clinched a decisive victory with a substantial lead of more than 32,000 votes. Jain secured 97,466 votes, while Vallabh trailed behind with 64,695 votes.
• Prior to this, Vallabh initiated his electoral journey in 2019 from Jamshedpur East in Jharkhand. Despite garnering over 18,000 votes, he landed in third place, trailing behind the then sitting chief minister Raghubar Das and Saryu Roy.
• Gourav Vallabh came to the limelight after he cornered BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on a TV debate on the state of the Indian economy, asking him if he knew how many zeros are in 5 trillion. Patra’s tries at averting the question have landed a lot of views for the video, now viral by all standards, and accolades for Vallabh.
• Even within the Congress party, there was renewed respect for him.
• After joining the Congress in 2017, he was soon recruited as a media panellist by the party’s then communications chief Randeep Singh Surjewala and started representing the party on TV debates and holding press conferences, mostly on weekends, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
• In 2022, Gourav Vallabh hit out at Shashi Tharoor over his probable AICC president poll bid, saying his “only major contribution” to the party was to send letters to Sonia Gandhi when she was hospitalised. Vallabh’s remarks were in reference to the letter sent by a group of 23 leaders, including Tharoor, to Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking large-scale reforms in the party.