Rahul Gandhi, in the midst of a series of exits from the Congress party, asserted that leaders like Himanta Biswa Sarma and Milind Deora should part ways with the party due to misalignment with its ideology. Speaking to the party's 'digital media warriors' in West Bengal on Thursday night, Gandhi reiterated his commitment to upholding the principles of the Congress.
"I want people like Himanta (Biswa Sarma) and Milind (Deora) to leave. I am perfectly okay with it. Himanta represents a particular kind of politics that's not in line with the politics of the Congress party," he said, as reported by news agency PTI.
"Have you heard some of the statements that Himanta had made about Muslims? I don't want to have anything to do with them, as there are certain values I would like to defend," he added.
Sarma, who defected to the BJP in 2014, currently serves as the chief minister of Assam, while Milind Deora recently joined the Shiv Sena under the leadership of Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde.
The resignation of former Union minister and ex-MP from Mumbai South, Milind Deora, marks the latest instance of leaders leaving the Congress to explore new political avenues, often shifting towards the BJP.
Himanta Biswa Sarma, a Congress minister in Assam, joined the BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Notable leaders such as Amarinder Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, Sunil Jakhar, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Hardik Patel, Sushmita Dev, and RPN Singh have also severed ties with the party in recent years.
Commenting on recent assertions by BJP leaders regarding the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Gandhi denounced the legislation as a tool used by the BJP to foster division along religious lines.
"These are instruments for the BJP. Their basic idea is to divide the country and create tension between religious communities," he said, according to PTI.
Gandhi's remarks come in the wake of Union Minister Shantanu Thakur's declaration on January 29 that the CAA would be enforced nationwide within a week.
The Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra,' led by Gandhi, entered West Bengal from Assam on January 25 and is scheduled to reach Jharkhand on Friday.
Enacted by the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019, the CAA aims to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim immigrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.