Afaq Bhat
Srinagar, Sep 4: Senior Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad seems to have gone on a back foot after the recently held Congress Working Committee meeting in New Delhi last.
It’s in place to mention here that prior to the CWC meeting last month twenty Congress leaders had written a letter to the party high command seeking the change in leadership and Azad was one of the signatories. During the CWC meeting the “letter issue” was discussed threadbare following which Azad had offered to tender his resignation from the Congress Party. After the CWC meeting ended a message was sent out that all the issues have been settled and Sonia Gandhi will continue to head the party. She too had offered to resign from the post of the party chief but the proposal was scrapped.
An analyst while talking to Precious Kashmir said, “Since the day CWC meeting has ended Azad seems to have gone into hibernation. He has neither issued any statement nor has he spoken about the political developments taking place even in Jammu and Kashmir.”
He said, “The letter written by the 20 senior leaders of the Congress Party appears to be the beginning of the revolt within the Grand Old Party of the country. After being ousted from power in 2014, the party has been struggling to regain its foothold but till date it has not succeeded. The performance of the Congress Party under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership in 2019 parliamentary polls proved to be disastrous. Since the day Congress has bitten the dust for the second time the voices within that party seeking the change in leadership have become shriller. The resentment which is brewing within the Congress Party indicates that coming days for the party are not going to be that easy.”
An observer said, “Azad going into a silent mode is an indication that he is not that happy with the recent developments. The Congress top brass reacted sharply to the letter sent by the party leaders and Rahul Gandhi led the charge against the leaders who have stood by the party during all these years. He (Rahul) questioning their integrity shocked them.”
He said, “It has been established beyond doubt that Rahul lacks the acumen to lead the Congress Party and someone else has to come forward and take the charge. Sonia Gandhi is an interim president. The suggestion put forth by the party leaders could have been discussed rather than cornering them.”
“If the Congress wants to make a comeback at least in Jammu and Kashmir then it will have to handover the charge to Azad as he is the only leader in the newly carved out Union Territory who can pull the Grand Old Party, which shared power for 12 consecutive years in J&K from 2002 to 2014, out of the prevailing mess,” the observer said.
