Azad’s Exit & Its Ramifications

Azad is one of few leaders in Congress who has worked from Indira Gandhi to Sanjay to Rajiv Gandhi to Sonia, He has worked and merged easily into their working style. But the one person he was never comfortable with, was Rahul Gandhi.

BY RAMNEEK MANHAS

The period of instability continues in the Congress. The party is already troubled by infighting and in such a situation, the separation of sizeable leaders from the party is making it more vulnerable.

After spending nearly 50 years with the Congress, veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad in a scathing letter on August 26 announced the severance of all ties with the Congress party. He resigned from the primary membership of the party on August 26 ahead of organisational elections, accusing the leadership of committing “fraud” on the party in the name of “sham” internal polls.

The Congress stalwart has sent his resignation to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. He was displeased with the policies of the party for a long time. In a five-page resignation letter sent to the Congress President, Azad wrote that he was taking this step with a “heavy heart”. He also suggested that the ‘Congress Jodo Yatra’ should have been taken out before the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Azad said that the Congress has lost its will and ability to fight. There were no fair elections at any level in the party.

Azad, in his letter to Sonia, lamented that the elected office bearers of the AICC were forced to sign the lists prepared by the small group that governs the AICC. The leadership is solely responsible for the massive betrayal of the party.  He observed that the situation in Congress has now reached at such a situation from where it cannot be returned.  23 leaders who wrote letters to highlight the weaknesses of the party were abused and humiliated.

Ghulam Nabi Azad candidly wrote in his resignation letter, “After you took over the leadership in 2014 and then by Rahul Gandhi, the Congress lost two Lok Sabha elections in a humiliating manner.  Congress lost 39 out of 49 assembly elections between 2014 and 2022. The party was able to win only four state elections and in six it was able to form alliances.  Unfortunately, today the Congress is running the government in only two states and in two other states it has very marginal alliance partners.”

In mid-70s Congress was marginalized after the imposition of an emergency by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. As a result, many party leaders left Congress or joined other parties.

Ghulam Nabi Azad contested the Lok Sabha elections for the first time when Sanjay Gandhi, the then general secretary of the party asked him to contest from Maharashtra. He was then the president of the Jammu and Kashmir Youth Congress. In his political career, he could never say no, so he fought and won. Since then, Azad has earned the tag of being a staunch loyalist of the Congress and the Gandhi family.

Azad is one of few leaders in Congress who has worked from Indira Gandhi to Sanjay to Rajiv Gandhi to Sonia, He has worked and merged easily into their working style. But the one person he was never comfortable with, was Rahul Gandhi.

Congress veteran’s exit from the party is being seen as a big setback for the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir, especially in the Jammu region its loss is unrepeatable. So far, several senior leaders have resigned from the state Congress and this count may increase in future.

The role of Congress stalwart in the Congress, politics of Jammu and Kashmir has been quite important. After his resignation, there has been a big stir in J&K PCC. The party does not have any leader of such stature who can compensate this loss in near future.