'Crutches Of BJP And Modi': Digvijaya Singh's Jibe At Ghulam Nabi Azad Over Remarks On Congress

Ghulam Nabi Azad said in an interview that he does not disagree with the ideology of the Congress and does not intend to "expose" or "demolish" the party.

Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday responded to Ghulam Nabi Azad's observation about the Congress and advised him to save his party in J&K. Ghulam Nabi Azad founded the Democratic Progressive Azad Party in J&K after leaving the Congress.

"Ghulam Nabi bhaijaan, what will you expose and demolish; first save your party in Kashmir. After staying at the party for 40 years, you betrayed the party. Now what will you achieve with the help of the crutches of BJP and Modiji!" Digvijaya Singh tweeted.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, the former chief minister of J&K, has spoken out once again about his disagreements with the Congress, which led him to leave the party after decades of association, ahead of the release of his book "Azaad." 

The former leader of the Congress stated in an interview that he does not disagree with the ideology of the Congress and does not intend to "expose" or "demolish" the party. 

"...as an individual, I am not saying Rahul Gandhi is a bad person. As an individual he is a good person. Maybe we have some political issues but those are the political issues that I had with him as long as I was in Congress. Since I am no longer in the Congress party, I am nobody to tell him what is right for him and what is wrong for him," the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief said.

"I can only wish him well both health wise and politically. It is for him to navigate. I only wish he is a good swimmer and he knows how to navigate the rough waters. Politics is an art of navigating in rough sea. Even the best captains, if they don't have the experience...can doom the entire ship," Azad told PTI.

Meanwhile, Congress's media and publicity department head, Pawan Khera slammed Azad saying, "The politician (Ghulam Nabi Azad) who was supported by his party (Congress), given the top posts of the party, now is speaking against that party. He (Ghulam Nabi Azad) broke the trust of the party. When he left the party he said I am free now, but after listening to his comments in the past two days we think he has become a 'ghulam'."

In his book, he discusses several instances in which he and Rahul Gandhi disagreed strongly, particularly after 23 Congress leaders wrote to Sonia Gandhi, the party's president at the time, in August 2020.

Azad said, "I guess it was beginning of the end as the leadership instead of taking this letter as a wake-up call, and strengthening the organisation and holding party elections on the lines we had suggested, both Rahul and Sonia ji took offence and viewed it as a challenge to their authority." He also said that the G-23 was snubbed because it was pro-BJP.

"I still wonder, if we were pro-BJP, why would we suggest strengthening the organisation? Rather, we would simply let things continue as they were and make the dream of a 'Congress-mukt Bharat (Congress-free India)', which the current leadership (BJP) seems to have embarked upon, come true," he said, adding that "writing a letter to strengthen the same (Congress) organisation cost me heavily".

Azad stated that Rahul Gandhi's leadership was responsible not only for the "complete demolition of the Congress' consultative mechanism but also gave rise to a new coterie of inexperienced sycophants to run the affairs of the party."