In a major setback for India’s main opposition party Congress, more than 50 politicians including former state deputy chief Tara Chand resigned on Tuesday in support of Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is planning to launch his own political party.
Apart from the former state deputy chief, several former ministers, including Abdul Majid Wani, Manohar Lal Sharma, Gharu Ram, and legislators announced their resignations from the party.
The mass exodus of politicians from Congress in the union territory came days after Azad, resigned from Congress, ending his association of over five decades with the party on Friday.
Four other politicians, including the former deputy speaker of Jammu and Kashmir's legislative assembly resigned on Monday in support of Azad.
Azad's Resignation
The veteran politician wrote a scathing resignation letter targeting the Gandhis, especially Rahul Ghandi, whom he accused of exhibiting "childish behavior" and "immaturity."
Lashing out at Rahul Gandhi, he said: "Demolishing the entire consultative mechanism in the party which existed pre-2013, all senior and experienced leaders were sidelined, a new coterie of inexperienced sycophants started running the party."
He also alleged that the party’s situation continued to degrade following the 2019 parliamentary polls “after Rahul Gandhi stepped down in a huff," with the bloc now at a point of "no return."
Prior to Azad, another key Congress politician, Anand Sharma, also resigned from the chairmanship of the party's steering committee for Himachal Pradesh, saying he was left with no choice after "continuing exclusion and insults."
Days after Sharma’s resignation from the key post, party spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill also quit last week.
In his letter to Sonia Gandhi, Shergill said the party's decision-making is “influenced by self-serving interests.”
He also revealed that all three Gandhis – Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka – had denied him a meeting for over a year.
The party has been witnessing the exit of prominent leaders since 2019, after Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned. He is now a federal minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet.