Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Union Minister and veteran Congress leader quit the party after more than five decades today. Citing repeated Congress defeats since 2014 in a resignation letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi, Mr. Azad made references to the ‘childish behaviour,’ ‘glaring immaturity’ and a ‘coterie of inexperienced sycophants’ that run the party on their leader Rahul Gandhi’s orders.
‘Unfortunately, after the entry of Rahul Gandhi into politics and particularly after January 2013, when he was appointed Vice President by you, the entire consultative mechanism which existed earlier was demolished by him,’ Mr. Azad, 73, wrote in his letter.
‘One of the most glaring examples of his immaturity was the tearing up of the government ordinance in the full glare of the media by Rahul Gandhi,’ the letter added.
‘Under your stewardship since 2014 and subsequently that of Rahul Gandhi, the Congress has lost two Lok Sabha elections in a humiliating manner. It has lost 39 out of the 49 assembly elections held between 2014 – 2022.
The party only won four state elections and was able to get into a coalition situation in six instances. Unfortunately, today, the Congress is ruling in only two states and is a very marginal coalition partner in two other states.’
Mr. Azad was a leading member of the G-23, a group of 23 ‘dissenters’ who wrote to Sonia Gandhi in 2020 calling for a complete overhaul of the party.
The Congress said Mr. Azad’s resignation was ‘most regrettable’ in the run-up to the 2024 general elections.