Ghulam Nabi Azad, one of the Congress party's senior-most leaders who had been demanding sweeping organizational changes, has resigned from the primary membership of the party that has seen several high-profile exits over the last three years. In a scathing letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the Jammu and Kashmir stalwart wrote that the party has lost the will and the ability under the tutelage of what he called the coterie.
Referring to Rahul Gandhi's planned nationwide political campaign, he said the party must carry out the Congress Jodo exercise (fix Congress) rather than Bharath Jodo Yatra (Unite India campaign).
Meanwhile, Congress has responded to the veteran leader's resignation letter. The party said that it is "unfortunate to read the letter when every leader ready to walk with Rahul Gandhi."
Addressing a press conference here, Congress chief spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said that he has read the letter of Azad that has been released to the media.
“It is most unfortunate that this has happened at a time when Congress President Smt Sonia Gandhi, Shri Rahul Gandhi and the entire party organisation is involved in fighting the BJP on public issues of mehangai, berozgaari and polarisation and when final preparations are being made for the Mehangai par Hallo Bol rally in New Delhi on Sept 4th and for launch of the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari on Sept 7th,” he said.
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot said Ghulam Nabi Azad was on several posts over the last 42 years, and no one expected such a letter from him.
“Sonia ji is in US for checkup and you are releasing a letter – this is not good,” he said, adding that Azad was sycophant himself during the time of Sanjay Gandhi.
“Ghulam Nabi Azad was very senior leader of congress, we have seen his letter. When all congress workers are busy in preparation of Bharat Jodo Yatra and Protest against the central government, we were expecting that Ghulam Nabi Azad would be helping congress in these protests, but its very unfortunate that he resigned from party,” said Congress leader Ajay Maken.
"His resignation is unfortunate. It's a sad day for the Congress party & for the democracy of country. Despite it, the party refuses to change & that is why you see senior leaders leave because they feel alienated, humiliated & insulted", Former Congress leader Ashwini Kumar said.
Former Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi who was expelled from the party and recently joined the BJP also made his remark on Ghulam Nabi Azad quitting Congress.
"It won't be wrong to say that Congress is in self-destruction, suicidal mode. I suggest Rahul Gandhi sets aside his ego....Ghulam Nabi Azad is welcome in BJP. If the party asks me, then I can persuade him to join the party", Bishnoi said.
Azad's resignation came days after he quit the post of Jammu and Kashmir's Congress unit chief on the same day he was appointed. His colleague Anand Sharma, another Congress dissident, later resigned from the Himachal Pradesh unit of the party citing exclusion and insults.
Azad and Sharma were part of the 23 Congress politicians who had written an explosive letter to Sonia Gandhi after the party's debacle in the 2019 general elections, demanding sweeping changes in its organizational structures to promote intra-party democracy. Among their many demands were the appointment of a full-time Congress president and more transparency in the appointments to the Congress Working Committee, the party's highest decision-making body.
Since the 2019 debacle, Congress has lost senior leaders like Jyotiraaditya Scindia, Jitin Prasad, and Kapil Sibal who became the Rajya Sabha MP from the Samajwadi Party.
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