Ghulam Nabi Azad blames Rahul Gandhi for his Congress exit
Former Congress leader and veteran politician Ghulam Nabi Azad blamed Rahul Gandhi squarely on Wednesday for his exit from the grand old party. The 74-year-old also added that one has to be "spineless" to stay in the party. Furthermore, he claimed that his return to Congress is not in the hands of party president Mallikarjun Kharge or Sonia Gandhi, even if they wanted.
Why does this story matter?
The remarks by Azad come at a time when both Gandhi and the Congress are under the cosh, following the former Congress president's Lok Sabha disqualification. Gandhi lost his MP status after a Surat court found him guilty of defamation for comments he made about the "Modi surname" in 2019. To recall, Azad officially resigned from the grand old party last year in August.
Once you are in Congress, you are spineless: Azad
"Yes. Not me alone, but at least a few dozen more, both young and old leaders," the veteran leader told the news agency PTI while responding to a question about whether Gandhi was the reason behind his exit from the Congress. "Once you are in Congress, you are spineless....you have to get operated," added the former Congress leader.
Azad open to BJP tie-up in J&K
Furthermore, Azad stated that he could form a government with any party, as he did not rule out working with the BJP to form a government in Jammu and Kashmir if both parties win elections there. During an interview after the launch of his autobiography "Azaad," the veteran leader asserted no one is "untouchable" in politics.
Azad bashes 'weak' UPA cabinet
Speaking about Gandhi's recent Lok Sabha disqualification, the 74-year-old stated that if the Congress leader had not thrashed the Ordinance brought by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2013, he would not have been disqualified. Azad, who was a minister back then, claimed that the UPA cabinet was "weak" as it did not go ahead despite Gandhi's objection.
Details on Azad's remarks on UPA cabinet, Gandhi
"We brought the Ordinance because we knew that one should be ready that other parties will be in power too and they would use it against us," Azad said. "It was a weak cabinet, and it should've gone ahead by bringing a law and should've stuck by its decision of bringing the law even after Rahul Gandhi dismissed it as nonsense and tore it."
Reaction to Azad's criticism of Congress, Gandhi
Reacting to Azad's criticism, Congress leader Pawan Khera asked if Azad even spoke a word on the Adani Group-Hindenburg controversy. "When he left the party, he said he became free but after listening to his comments in the past two days, it is clear that he became ghulam," the Congress leader was quoted as saying by the news outlet Hindustan Times.
Details on Azad's exit from Congress
After resigning from Congress, the former J&K CM announced his new party, the "Democratic Azad Party," in September last year. In his resignation letter to Sonia, Azad allegedly launched an attack on the Gandhis. Following this move, numerous J&K Congress leaders and party workers also quit the party, voicing their support for Azad.
Remarks that led to Gandhi's removal from Lok Sabha
While speaking at a poll campaign in Karnataka's Kolar in 2019, Gandhi stated, "Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi... How come all the thieves have Modi as a common surname?" Surat (West) BJP legislator Purnesh Modi took offense to this and filed a complaint, alleging that the former Congress president defamed the entire Modi community.
