Ghulam Nabi Azad’s resignation: Miasma of animosity and cynicism swamps Congress

Putting your house in order can be a tedious task, at the best of times. And if you are a political party with a depleting legacy, spiralling electoral losses and roiling with grievances and resentment, it can look like a wreckage that is impossible to clean up

The grand old party, called the Congress, always seemed like a permanent institution but the people who compose it and define it have ensured it bears little resemblance to what it once stood for. Its members feel patronised and persecuted by the decades old elite culture of the party.

Now, the latest hammer blow has come from its old guard represented by none other than Ghulam Nabi Azad, 73. After quitting the Congress and its primary membership, he has served a five-page resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi.

It is crushing in tone and, in an atypical style for Congress veterans, hits out directly at Rahul Gandhi. “Unfortunately, after the entry of Shri 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,” he wrote, adding: “All senior and experienced leaders were sidelined and new coterie of inexperienced sycophants started running the affairs of the party.”

“One of the most glaring examples of this immaturity was the tearing up of a government ordinance in the full glare of the media by Shri Rahul Gandhi. The said ordinance was incubated in the Congress Core Group and subsequently unanimously approved by the Union Cabinet presided over by the Prime Minister of India and duly approved even by the President of India. This ‘childish’ behaviour completely subverted the authority of the Prime Minister and Government of India,” he continued, adding: “This one single action more than anything else contributed significantly to the defeat of the UPA Government in 2014.”

As rumours swirl about Rajasthan’s chief minister Ashok Gehlot taking over the reins of the party as its president, reactions range from — when will they get it right, to there is no hope for them.

Gehlot predictably denied the rumours.

Azad questioned this election process by writing: “Now ‘proxies’ are being propped up to take over the leadership of the party. This experiment is doomed to fail because the Party has been so comprehensively destroyed that situation has become irretrievable. Moreover, the ‘chosen one’ would be nothing more than a puppet on a string.”

As things stand, with just two states — Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh — in its kitty, the Congress needs not just fresh infusion of leadership but a concerted effort to remove the animosity and cynicism that currently animates the party.

Lok Sabha polls are scheduled for 2024. Worried insiders say if the party cannot conduct its internal elections, how will it take on the enormous task of winning the country.

In October 2019, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had announced that internal elections, including that of the next party president, would be completed by September 2022. The elections were already on hold since he had stepped down from the top post in July 2019.

So, who is going to be the next Congress president? Former party president Rahul Gandhi has called for a non-Gandhi at the helm. His mother, Sonia, is struggling with ill-health. His sister Priyanka showed some fleeting jingoistic flashes in the Uttar Pradesh election or while sitting at demonstrations.

Even as the churn continues, the Gandhi family has left for London where Sonia would get medical assistance.

In recent times, the party rallied around only when Sonia and Rahul were buffeted by the National Herald case and questioned by the Enforcement Directorate.

Neither Rahul nor Priyanka has ever wanted to steer a state by being in the chief minister’s seat. It is freer to be in the backroom while the generals get beheaded in battle.

However, time is now running out. As India prepares for its next big electoral fight in 2024 the spotlight is on who would lead a fractured, dissipated, Opposition into battle. Typically, the Congress should have done that job. Now, there are other contenders like Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, and KCR of Telangana.

The rebel G-23, with its line of venerable gents, keeps sniping at the Gandhi family for their own longevity and relevance.

Anand Sharma, 69, who recently quit as the chairman of the steering committee for Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, said: “We elected Rahul Gandhi as Congress president in 2018, but it was he who resigned, we did not ask him to resign. It is important that the Nehru-Gandhi family remains integral.”

Sharma, whose move to quit a key party post on 21 August created a buzz about an internal revolt, reiterated his dedication to the Congress party. But is he needed by the party to come to power in Himachal Pradesh?

Both Azad and Sharma resented their Rajya Sabha term not being renewed.

And how can one forget Narendra Modi crying openly in the Rajya Sabha in February 2021 while delivering a farewell speech for Azad? The emotion stemmed from their personal friendship.

The party is also preparing for its Kanyakumari to Kashmir “Bharat Jodo Yatra” which is scheduled to begin on 7 September. Rahul is expected to participate. This 3,500-km long padayatra will cover 12 states and two Union Territories.

In his letter, Azad caustically suggests a “Congress Jodo Yatra.”

The long list of Congress presidents includes names like Subhas Chandra Bose, Lala Lajpat Rai, Rajendra Prasad, Sanjiva Reddy, Shankar Dayal Sharma, Narasimha Rao among others, But the last non-Gandhi president was Sitaram Kesri between 1996 and 1998.

Interestingly, in 2001, deceased Congress leader Jitendra Prasada contested against Sonia Gandhi.

Votes they got:

Sonia -7448

Prasad- 94

Ever since the baton has been held by Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul for a brief while between 2017 and 2019. They realised the party is the key and it must be controlled with a clenched fist. Or like Ghulam Nabi says through the use of “remote control.”

It seems the current generation of Gandhis only wants to be involved in the performative part of politics.

The author is CEO of nnis. Views expressed are personal.

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