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In his first exclusive interview after quitting the Congress, Ghulam Nabi Azad attacked the party and Rahul Gandhi. Reiterating every point of his five-page letter, he said the Congress under Gandhi was full of sycophants and failed to win even a single election.
Azad will soon travel across Jammu and Kashmir as he pitches his party, which he says will soon go national as he believes more Congress leaders may leave. However, Azad made it clear that he would “never join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)”.
Azad’s comments come as the Congress finalizes its timetable for the October 17 party president election and plans an ambitious Bharat Jodo Yatra to hit the streets to regain lost ground.
The party wants to counter the growing strength of regional parties like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which are eating into the Congress’ votes.
Edited excerpts:
Did you write a five-page resignation letter? Why did you do it at the time?
Let me tell you, it took me three days to write it, and I couldn’t sleep all that time. And even after I wrote the letter, I couldn’t sleep. I kept cutting out some bits as I didn’t want to sound harsh. But what I wrote is only the tip of the iceberg. This is only 5% of what I feel. But I couldn’t help but write it.
Ghulam Nabi Azad: It hurts when our advice is ignored. Cong history tells you that there will be an election every year for the presidency, later it was extended to 2 and 5 years, and now there is no time@islahmufti and @_pallavighosh decode the battle in Congress. pic.twitter.com/K87m9Hz1Hc
— News18 (@CNNnews18) December 5, 2021
I told them, sent letters, but got no answer. How long can I endure the humiliation I receive from them?
But what I wrote is only the tip of the iceberg. This is only 5% of what I feel.
Is your problem with Congress or Congress today or Congress of Rahul Gandhi?
Now it’s a party of sycophants. It is about ji hazuri and a group close to Rahul Gandhi. And he keeps emphasizing the need for young people. What is it that old people are not useful? How old was Mahatma Gandhi when he kicked out the British? What about Indira Gandhi when she defeated Janta Party? You can’t have a party of only 30-40 year olds. And Rahul Gandhi’s style has not won any elections. Since January 2013, Rahul Gandhi has ruled and taken all the decisions. But we were traveling and hitting the ground running. We traveled in buses and trucks and even got hurt. You can’t have a Twitter party if you’re away. Congress is doing Bharat Jodo Yatra but there is more need for Congress Jodo Yatra. This Bharat Jodo Yatra will achieve nothing.
How old was Mahatma Gandhi when he kicked out the British? What about Indira Gandhi when she defeated Janta Party? Congress is doing Bharat Jodo Yatra but there is more need for Congress Jodo Yatra.
Rahul Gandhi and the party feel that you have hurt the Congress when it needs people like you the most….
They won’t do well for another 40 years. Have I been implicated? Each of us. Let me tell you some things. When the CWC was called to discuss the letter we first wrote, I can’t even tell you… Every possible abuse was hurled at us and me. They called me a traitor and an attacker. My letter began by mentioning Nehruji and Indira Gandhi. Then all my letter written was talking about what we think needs to change. But Rahul Gandhi just jumped in and said I am speaking BJP’s language. This is ridiculous. I was the only one who never spoke to Modi even though I was the leader of the opposition. I never went to meet him on a personal level. I never rushed to hug the Prime Minister. Rahul Gandhi did all the drama. They claim that the prime minister shed tears for me. But this is something I explained earlier. He knew I was emotional when some Gujarati tourists died in Kashmir in a terror attack when I was CM. When the Prime Minister cries, it shows that he has feelings. My party did not. When I received the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award, it was not an award given by Modi. Everyone came, but there was no chairman of my party. If you remember when PV Narasimha Rao died, his body was not brought to the Congress office. I wasn’t here or I would have objected. When Pranab Mukherjee was awarded the Bharat Ratna, again no one turned up.
When the Prime Minister cries, it shows that he has feelings. My party did not. When I received the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award, it was not an award given by Modi. Everyone came, but there was no chairman of my party.
As for not supporting Rahul Gandhi, during the CWC when he resigned, he told us that we do not support his ‘chowkidar chor hai’ comment. We told him that it might be your language and not ours. This is not our culture. He told us to resolve our issues with KC Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala. They were petty workers when I was chief secretary.
What next?
I start my party in Kashmir. It is there for now, but we will build it into a national party. I am sure many more leaders will leave the Congress. Anyone who respects themselves should. But let me tell you that I will never join or support BJP.
Being a Kashmiri I can never do that. In the end, all I can say is that slobs need to look in the mirror. The Congress leaders who are being asked to attack me have no idea about the history of their own party.
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