The resignation of Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday triggered a barrage of reactions from his Congress colleagues, many of them reminding him of the various positions he enjoyed in the party and questioned the timing of the letter just ahead of the Bharat Jodo yatra against the BJP.
Following Mr Azad's resignation, eight loyalists from the Jammu and Kashmir unit, including thee Ministers resigned in solidarity.
Digvijaya Singh said Mr Azad may have written the letter as he has become close to those who removed article 370 from J&K.
Leading the charge was Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot who questioned the timing of the letter. “She [Sonia Gandhi] has gone to the U.S. for a medical check-up and you are making the letter public? This I understand is against human nature, against sensitivity,” he said. “A leader who got everything in 42 years, someone who has not been without an office for 42 years is giving this message today, which is beyond my understanding.”
Calling Mr. Azad’s comments against former party chief Rahul Gandhi “immature and not being in good taste”, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said,“You [Azad] enjoyed [power] for long, and now only you are finding fault?”.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said Mr. Azad was “trying to weaken the party from within”.
“He was made Union Minister several times, appointed a general secretary, was made the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Whatever a person can be offered, he was given. Instead of working for the party, he kept finding faults. I don’t think the party will suffer because of his exit,” Mr. Baghel said.
“If Mr. Azad and his remote control think his resignation will destabilise the Congress party’s Mehangai Rally on Sept 4th and the launch of the Bharat Jodo Yatra on Sept 7th, they are grossly mistaken. The resignation has further strengthened our resolve!” party general secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted.
Former Lok Sabha member Sandeep Dikshit, who was a member of the group of 23 leaders or the G-23 that had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi, said that they raised “the banner of reforms and not revolt”.
“When I read your letter of resignation, it gave me a sense of dismay and unfortunately, then a sense of betrayal,” Mr. Diskhit wrote in a letter to Mr. Azad.
A few of his G-23 colleagues such as Anand Sharma said the situation was avoidable if the party leadership had listened to the points raised by them in their August 2020 letter to Ms. Gandhi.
