Crack between India, Cong coordination since 1885: Tewari on Azad's exit

A day after Ghulam Nabi Azad's exit from the Congress, party MP Manish Tewari said that a crack seems to have appeared in coordination between India and the Congress that existed since 1885 and that the former Union leader's resignation could have been avoided if the party top leadership had heeded calls for introspection after multiple assembly poll losses.

Tewari said that over 20 party leaders wrote to the Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi and said that the situation could have been avoided if the consensus of a meeting held in December 2020 had been executed.

"A crack seems to have appeared in coordination between India and Congress that existed since 1885. A self-introspection was needed. I feel that had the consensus of the meeting at Sonia Gandhi's residence on 20th December 2020 been executed, this situation wouldn't have arrived," Tewari told ANI.

He further stressed that the Congress leaders had already cited that the situation should be taken seriously.

"Two years back, 23 of us wrote to Sonia Gandhi that the party's situation is worrying and should be taken seriously. Congress lost all Assembly polls after that letter. If Congress and India thought alike, it seems either of them has started thinking differently," he added.

Adding that he is a party member he said," We do not need any certificate from anyone. I've given 42 years to this party. I've said this before, We are not tenants of this institution (Congress), we're a member". Now if you try to push us out, then that is another matter, and it will be seen."

Azad had yesterday submitted his resignation in a five-page letter to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi

Tewari said, "Don't want to go into merits of Mr Azad's letter, he'd be in the best position to explain...But strange when people who don't have the capacity to fight a ward poll, were "chaprasis" of Congress leaders give "gyaan" about the party it's laughable."

In his letter of resignation to the Congress interim president, Azad had resigned from all the party posts, including its primary membership. Azad cited the "immaturity" of Rahul Gandhi, whom he blamed for "demolishing the consultative mechanism" in the party.

In his hard-hitting letter Azad claimed that a coterie runs the party while she was just a nominal head and all the major decisions were taken by "Shri Rahul Gandhi or rather worse his security guards and PAs".

The development comes days after Azad resigned from the organizational post of Jammu and Kashmir.

"The entire organisational election process is a farce and a sham. At no place anywhere in the country have elections been held at any level of the organisation. Handpicked lieutenants of the AICC have been coerced to sign on lists prepared by the coterie that runs the AICC sitting in 24 Akbar Road," Azad wrote.

Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi, Azad wrote, "Since the 2019 elections, the situation in the party has only worsened. After. Rahul Gandhi stepped down in a 'huff' and not before insulting all the senior Party functionaries who have given their lives to the party in a meeting of the extended Working Committee, you took over as interim President. A position that you have to continue to hold even today for the past three years."

Azad said that it was "worse still the 'remote control model' that demolished the institutional integrity of the UPA government now got applied to the Indian National Congress."

He continued the attack on Rahul Gandhi but praised Sonia Gandhi for playing a "sterling" role as Congress President in both the UPA governments.

Azad's resignation comes ahead of the 2024 elections and after indications that elections to the post of Congress chief would be postponed yet again.

On Friday, as many as five leaders of the Congress also resigned from their positions in support of the resignation of the veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Among those who have resigned from party posts are GM Saroori, Haji Abdul Rashid, Mohd Amin Bhat, Gulzar Ahmad Wani and Choudhary Mohd Akram. Former Jammu and Kashmir Minister RS Chib also quit the Congress on Friday.