How Ghulam Nabi Azad’s revelations about Congress expose the many faults in the party

The going’s getting tougher for Congress, as leader after leader quits the party. The latest blow has been the resignation of veteran politician Ghulam Nabi Azad. After 50 years in Congress, the politician who worked under the regimes of top leaders from Indira Gandhi to Manmohan Singh stepped down over the mismanagement of the party, its dwindling fortunes, and the “izzat” that was not given to him.

The 73-year-old is one of the seniormost leaders to exit from Congress. Like Kabil Sibal who quit in May, Azad was a member of the (G-23), the dissidents in the party, who wanted an overhaul in leadership. The leader from Jammu and Kashmir sent a scathing five-page letter to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Friday and since then has made many explosive revelations about the party and its leaders, especially Rahul Gandhi.

We take at what Azad has said and what it reveals about the grand old party.

On Rahul Gandhi: ‘Not interested in becoming a successful leader’

The former Congress leader has been the harshest in his criticism of Rahul Gandhi. “We tried to make him a successful leader… but he is not interested…” he told the media, taking another potshot at the Gandhi scion.

In an interview with NDTV, Azad revealed that Rahul insulted senior Congress leaders by asking for a show of hands on his “Chowkidar Chor Hai” slogan against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019, demanding who used it while campaigning.

“He made everybody raise their hands… those who said chowkidar chor hai. I was sunk in my chair. So many senior people who have been chief minister, ministers with Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao… how do you expect them to speak this language in public,” he asked while speaking with the news channel.

Azad said that he was present at the time along with senior party leaders like Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram, adding that politicians like him found it impossible to launch personal attacks on opponents.

In the five-page resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi, Azad slammed Rahul for his “childish behaviour”, “glaring immaturity”, and for allowing a “coterie of inexperienced sycophants” to run the party, reports NDTV.

The old-timer was most upset about Rahul’s act of tearing up a 2013 ordinance in front of cameras. “…the single action that more than anything else contributed significantly to the defeat of the UPA government in 2014,” said Azad.

“The act eroded the authority of the PM (Manmohan Singh) and the entire cabinet. I don’t know if Rahul ji knows till today how ordinances are issued. Anything passed under the leadership of the head of government and head of state and you tear it up in public domain,” he added, according to an NDTV report.

He alleged in his resignation letter that important decisions were taken by Rahul or even worse his security guards and personal assistants.

On Sonia Gandhi: ‘Completely dependent on her son’

Azad said that he respected Sonia Gandhi. “My respect for Sonia Gandhi is the same as 30 years back; respect for Rahul Gandhi is the same as that befitting Indira Gandhi’s family, Rajiv-Sonia Gandhi’s son. Personally, I pray for his long life,” he said.

However, he criticised the Congress chief, calling her a “figurehead”. “Unfortunately, after the entry of Rahul Gandhi into politics, and particularly after January 2013 when he was appointed as vice president by you (Sonia Gandhi), the entire consultative mechanism was demolished,” Azad said in a letter written to her.

Azad claimed that Sonia Gandhi was aware of what her son was doing but was completely dependent on him. “All mothers are like that. All mothers, my mother, your mother, have a weakness for their children,” he told NDTV.

On Jairam Ramesh: ‘He is planting stories against me’

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had hit out at Azad after his resignation, saying that the J&K leader’s “DNA has been modi-fied”, hinting at him cosying up to the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). But the former Congressman is no longer in a mood to keep mum and said that Ramesh had reached this far only to plant news.

“Earlier he used to plant stories against the government, against the opposition leaders. Now, he is planting stories against me. So many dirty stories,” Azad said about Ramesh.

“No one knows his party’s DNA… nobody knows which state, which district he [Ramesh] is from. He should check his DNA first… he was a freelancer till some years ago… which government was he working for in 1996-1997… we were not in government then,” he added.

According to Azad, Ramesh would “send slips to BJP” sitting in Rajya Sabha. “I, as the Leader of Opposition [in Rajya Sabha], am witness to the exchange of slips…. What is most unfortunate is that outsiders who do not know anything about the party, who had been given posts only to tweet… when he levels allegations against me…it is sad.”

On the Congress: ‘It needs dawa not dua’

In an interview with India Today, Azad said that prayers were not enough for the recovery of the Congress party.

“Congress needs dawa not dua to recover. It needs surgery to reinvent itself. It needs physicians and surgeons, not compounders,” he told India Today journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.

He claimed that the party’s foundation has turned weak and the organisation can fall anytime but the leadership doesn’t have the time to set things right. He also said the “ailing” party needs medicines that are being provided by compounders instead of doctors.

On Narendra Modi: ‘He has shown humanity’

Azad while talking about the prime minister said that he had assumed Modi was a “crude man” but he displayed humanity. “I assumed that Modi-sahab was a crude man, as he did not have children or his own family… and would not care. But at least he has shown humanity,” Azad said as he narrated the aftermath of the grenade explosion targeted at a Gujarat tourist bus in Kashmir in 2007.

He added that “illiterate” Congress leaders had been spreading a canard against him since then but were silent when Rahul hugged the PM in Parliament.

#WATCH | Ghulam Nabi Azad takes jibe at Rahul Gandhi’s hug to PM Modi in Parliament, says “It’s not me who is entangled with Modi, it’s him.” pic.twitter.com/E7K4a0uBMt

— ANI (@ANI) August 29, 2022

Soon after Azad quit, Congress accused him of joining hands with the BJP. But Azad has denied the allegations. “I would not have given suggestions or requested changes for nine years if I had been fulfilling the BJP’s agenda,” he said.

With inputs from agencies

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