Two months after Kapil Sibal’s exit – Ghulam Nabi Azad quit the Congress – another blow to the G-23. Some of these leaders are planning to contest the Congress president election. Sources said only a handful of his G-23 counterparts knew about his planned exit. Others, like those in Congress, were shocked by the news.
Part of his resignation letter gave a hint of Asad’s plans. He wrote in the letter that some of my other colleagues and I would now, outside the Indian National Congress, persevere to uphold the ideals to which we had devoted our entire sexual life.
Later in the evening, Azad confirmed that he would launch a new party focused on Jammu and Kashmir.
“I am in no rush to start a national party, but considering the possibility of elections in Jammu and Kashmir, I have decided to start a unit there soon,” Asad told PTI.
While the Congress is putting up a brave face, many leaders see a bigger crisis brewing. “We did not expect a split. It can cause death by a thousand cuts. Others may leave. A leader said it was impossible to predict what would happen in the election to choose Sonia Gandhi’s successor.
Sources in the G-23 – or G-19 since four leaders withdrew – did not rule out running for party leadership. “It could be Shashi Tharoor or Manish Tiwari. We don’t know,” said a leader.
This is unfortunate. When a senior leader like him leaves the party… his friend and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda told The Indian Express.
His ouster is a blow to the Congress, which has been struggling since the BJP’s entry into the Jammu region.
Within hours of Azad’s resignation, two former Congress ministers from Jammu and Kashmir – GM Saruri and RS Chip – and four former MLAs/MLCs quit the party. Former minister Jugal Sharma and former MLC Naresh Gupta said they would go with Azad as only one person can bring Jammu and Kashmir out of its “present predicament”. A few more local leaders are expected to follow suit in the coming days.
Newly appointed PCC president Vihar Rasool Wani said his resignation “will definitely affect the J&K Congress as many will go with him”.
Meanwhile, leaders of the G23 expressed different views. Expressing “shock”, senior party leader Anand Sharma said the situation could have been avoided if the Congress leadership had done “serious introspection and course correction” with disaffected leaders.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said Azad’s tough decision was a “noble example” of the style of working of the intellectuals around Rahul Gandhi.
Senior leader Sandeep Dikshit, one of the signatories of the G23 letter, wrote to Azad that he felt the group had “raised the banner of reform, not the banner of rebellion”.
Former Rajya Sabha Deputy Speaker and senior Congress leader BJ Kurian said the purpose of the G23 was not to destroy but to act as a corrective force. Congress Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh echoed Kurian, saying that Azad quit at a time when the party needed it most.
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