With veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad announcing his resignation, the Congress has now lost 12 heavyweights in the span of more than 5 months in 2022. Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday resigned from all posts of the party citing the "immaturity" of Rahul Gandhi whom he blamed for "demolishing the consultative mechanism" in the party.
In a hard-hitting 5 page note to party interim president Sonia Gandhi, 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 organisational post of Jammu and Kashmir.
The national party is not in its best phases in the politics of the country, with both its representation and political influence on the decline.
Nabi's resignation comes two days after Congress' spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill announced that he was resigning from all positions, saying that “sycophancy” had taken precedence over merit.
Apart from GN Azad, here are the other big names who left the Congress in 2022:
Kapil Sibal
In May, veteran leader Kapil Sibal dropped a bombshell when he applied for Rajya Sabha nominations as an independent candidate with the backing of the Samajwadi Party. At the time, he announced that he had ended his three-decade-long association with the Congress.
“I had resigned from the Congress party on 16 May,” he had told reporters then, adding, “I am no longer a serious Congress leader.”
Sibal was one of the core leaders of the G-23, a group of dissenting Congress leaders, who have been demanding sweeping changes in the party.
Sunil Jakhar:
Sunil Jakhar, who was one of the senior-most Congress leaders in Punjab announced he was leaving the party in May, asserting that the party was facing an existential crisis and yet no intent was being seen to save the party.
While the Congress held its Chintan Shivir in Udaipur, Jakhar on Facebook said: Good luck and good bye to Congress party.”
Jakhar’s resignation came while he had been issued a showcause notice for criticising former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
Hardik Patel:
In May, Hardik Patel quit the Congress and put out an extremely scathing one-page resignation letter.
He wrote, “Whenever our country faced challenges and when the Congress needed leadership, Congress leaders were enjoying abroad.
“Be it building the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, revocation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, implementation of GST (Goods and Services Tax) — India wanted solutions for these subjects for a long time and Congress only played the role of a roadblock and was always only obstructive. When it came to issues related to India, Gujarat and my Patidar community — the Congress’s only stand was to oppose whatever the Government of India led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji did. Congress today has been rejected in almost every state of India because the party and its leadership have not been able to present a basic road map to the people,” Patel said.
Patel’s letter spoke of his disappointment when party workers like him travelled 500-600 km to attend a meeting and discuss issues but found the local leaders busy trying to ensure that some senior Congress leader from Delhi was served “his chicken sandwich on time”.
Ashwani Kumar
former Union minister and senior leader Ashwani Kumar announced he was ending his more than four decade association with the Congress.
In his resignation letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Dr Kumar wrote, “Having given my thoughtful consideration to the matter, I have concluded that in the present circumstances and consistent with my dignity, I can best subserve larger national cause outside the party fold.”
He also said he “hoped to proactively pursue public causes inspired by the idea of transformative leadership, based on the dignitarian promise of a liberal democracy envisioned by our freedom fighters.”
RPN Singh:
In a letter to Sonia Gandhi, Singh, who was in charge of Jharkhand, thanked the Congress boss for giving him an opportunity to serve the nation, people and the party.
The 58-year-old held portfolios like road, transport and highways; petroleum and home affairs.
Speaking to the media, he said he was in the Congress for 32 years but the “party is no longer what it used to be”.
Singh was the second prominent leader from Uttar Pradesh to join the BJP after Jitin Prasada, who quit the party in June 2021.
The other big resignation was that of Jyotiraditya Scindia in March 2020.
Kuldeep Bishnoi:
Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi in August resigned from the Haryana Assembly. Bishnoi submitted his resignation to Assembly speaker Gian Chand Gupta. He is expected to join the ruling BJP on Thursday.
Kuldeep after quitting as MLA from the Adampur constituency in Haryana also challenged Bhupinder Singh Hooda to contest and win the seat vacated by him. Notably, his resignation will necessitate a bypoll from the Adampur seat in Hisar district.
"BS Hooda had challenged me to resign, and I accepted his challenge. Now, I challenge him to contest elections and win from Adampur constituency," said Bishnoi.
Raju Parmar and Naresh Raval:
Ahead of Gujarat Assembly elections, Congress leaders Raju Parmar and Naresh Raval, resigned from the party's primary membership along with all other party posts.
In a major setback to Congress before the polls, both the leaders announced on Wednesday, 3 August, that they will join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on 17 August.
Parmar, a prominent Dalit leader and former Congress’s Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat, said that he will talk about his future plans in a joint press conference. Raval, who was a Minister of State for Home in the Congress government led by CM Chimanbhai Patel, had earlier expressed feeling betrayed by his colleagues.
Dasoju Sravan:
Senior Telangana Congress leader and former All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesperson Dasoju Sravan, who quit his party joined the BJP.
Sravan quit the Congress, blaming the functioning style of state Congress chief Revanth Reddy. His resignation came just days after Munugode MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy quit the party in what was perceived as a major jolt to the party.
Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy
Reddy, known for his wavering statements, declared in a press conference here that he would be resigning from the Assembly.
Rajagopal Reddy declared that he would not be criticising the Congress, despite its reported decision to take action against him. “On what grounds would they initiate action against me? I have been a Congress man all my life and fought for the party when it faced dire situations. But the high command brought a person who had been abusing the Congress and its leaders and made him the chief of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC).
Jaiveer Shergill:
Jaiveer Shergill resigned with sharp jabs at the Gandhis in a letter that said the "vision of the party's decision-makers is no longer in sync" with the aspirations of the youth. All three Gandhis had denied him a meeting for over a year, he told reporters, adding that he had "severed all ties" with the party.
"The decision-making of the Congress party is not in sync with the ground reality anymore. I've been seeking time from Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi & Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for more than a year, but we are not welcomed in the office," Jaiveer Shergill said.
Shergill said sycophancy is "eating the Congress like 'termites'".
