Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was associated with Congress for over 50 years, writes a 5-page critical letter to party supremo Sonia Gandhi, calling Rahul ‘Childish’; says decisions are being taken by his security guards.
Ghulam Nabi Azad’s five-page letter
A former Congress veteran, Ghulam Nabi Azad’s five-page resignation letter on Friday produced the maximum blow for the grand old party by portraying former Congress president Rahul Gandhi as “immature” and “childish” and accused the leadership of “foisting a non-serious individual” at the helm of the party.
Terming Sonia Gandhi a “nominal figurehead” in one example, he goes on to add that “all the important decisions were being taken by Shri Rahul Gandhi, or rather worse, his security guards and PAs”.
The reference to security guards is witnessed as an attack on KB Byju, who used to be in the Special Protection Group but joined Rahul Gandhi’s unit when the latter became general secretary of the party. Byju doesn’t have a formal position in the Congress party, but he is in charge of managing Rahul’s security and handling key assignments. For example, Byju handled the elections in Goa earlier this year and became the key man for Bharat Jodo Yatra.
At another point in the letter, Azad accuses Rahul Gandhi of destroying the “consultative mechanism that existed earlier”. ”All senior and experienced leaders were sidelined and (a) new gang of inexperienced started running the affairs of the party,’’ he adds soon after.
“Unfortunately, after the entry of Rahul Gandhi into politics, and particularly after January 2013, when he was appointed as vice president by you (Sonia Gandhi), the entire consultative mechanism which existed earlier was demolished by him.”
Rahul’s behavior
The former leader also brought up Rahul’s tearing up of a government ordinance in full view of the media during the UPA rule and described it as “one of the most glaring examples of immaturity”.
“This ‘childish’ behavior completely devalued the authority of the prime minister and the Government of India. This one single action more than anything else contributed significantly to the defeat of the UPA government in 2014,” he adds.
Azad, 73, also attacked party chief Sonia Gandhi for using the “remote control model that demolished the institutional integrity of the UPA government” to the party.
“Does the Indian National Congress deserve this in the 75th year of India’s independence is a question that the AICC leadership must ask itself,” he asked.
