Senior party leaders pitch for strong Cong leadership at Centre
Pitching for a strong Congress leadership at the Centre in order to corner the Narendra Modi-led Government, the group of 23 Congress leaders, known in the party circles as “dissident” voices, on Saturday launched a fresh offensive questioning the top brass of the party why it failed to utilise the services of an “experienced” leader like Ghulam Nabi Azad when it needed him the most.
At least seven leaders belonging to this “group of dissenters”, assembled in Jammu to attend Shanti Sammelan organised by the Gandhi Global Family.
Interestingly, the “show of strength” was organised by these leaders a day after the announcement of the Assembly polls by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in five States, including Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
In one voice all these leaders sent out a clear message to the Congress leadership to start working towards strengthening the party before it’s too late. The tone and tenor of the speeches made by these leaders clearly indicated the Congress party is headed for a major “shakeup” in the days to come. These leaders also made it clear they will not sit idle as the country was facing numerous challenges.
Apart from Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Cabinet Ministers Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Anand Sharma, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, parliamentarians Raj Babbar, and Vivek Tankha attended the event in Jammu.
Wearing saffron headgears, all these leaders also openly came out in support of the demand for restoring “statehood” to Jammu & Kashmir.
None of the office-bearers of the Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee, including its chief GA Mir, attended the event. Only loyalists of Ghulam Nabi Azad from the Kashmir Valley and Jammu region attended the event in full strength.
Leading the charge from the front, one of the senior most members of the group Anand Sharma said, “The Congress has weakened in the last decade. Our voice is for the betterment of the party. It should be strengthened everywhere once again. New generation should connect (to the party). We’ve seen good days of the Congress. We don’t want to see it weakening as we become older.”
In a veiled attack on the party leadership, the former Union Minister went on to add, “All of us have covered a long distance to reach where we’re today. Nobody among us has come through the window, all of us have walked through the door. We have come through the students’ movement, the youth movement. I’ve not given anyone the right to declare if we’re people of Congress or not, nobody has that right. We’ll build the party and strengthen it. We believe in the strength and unity of the Congress”.
His Cabinet colleagues Kapil Sibal and Manish Tewari also batted for a strong Congress leadership at the top. Sibal said, “We had gathered together earlier too and we have to strengthen the party together”.
Sibal questioned as to why the Congress was not utilising the rich experience of Ghulam Nabi Azad. “He is one such leader who knows the ground reality of Congress in every district of every State. We were saddened when we realised that he is being freed from Parliament. We didn’t want him to go from Parliament”.
Referring to the treatment meted out to Azad by the party high command, Sibal said, “What is the real role of Ghulam Nabi Azad ? A person who flies an aircraft is an experienced person. An engineer accompanies him to detect and repair any malfunctioning in the engine. Ghulam Nabi ji is experienced as well as an engineer”.
Echoing similar sentiments Anand Sharma also said, “There has never come such an occasion after 1950 when there is no representative of Jammu & Kashmir in the Rajya Sabha. This will be corrected”.
Meanwhile, Azad, who reached Jammu on Friday said the Congress party will contest the coming Assembly elections in four States and a Union Territory with its full might. He said, the fight is not over yet. “I may have retired from Parliament but not for the politics”, Every time I received this treatment I have bounced back,” he thundered.
Addressing the ‘Shanti Sammelan Azad said, “Be it Jammu or Kashmir or Ladakh, we respect all religions, people and castes. We equally respect everyone, that is our strength and we will continue with this”.
“In the last 5-6 years, all these friends did not speak any less than me in Parliament over Jammu & Kashmir, its unemployment, stripping off of statehood, finishing off industries and education, implementation of GST,” the former Rajya Sabha MP added.
Raj Babbar also addressed the event and emphasised that the G-23 leaders want the Congress party to be strong. People say “G23”, I say Gandhi 23. “With the belief, resolve and thinking of Mahatma Gandhi, this nation’s law and Constitution was formed. Congress is standing strongly to take these forward. ‘G23’ wants Congress to be strong,” he said.
