New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday lashed out at its former members Ghulam Nabi Azad and Jyotiraditya Scindia, saying they have been huge beneficiaries of the party's system but with every passing day, they give powerful evidence that this generosity to them was "undeserved" as they reveal their "true character".
The Opposition party's attack on the two leaders came after they criticised it and its leadership separately in the media. Scindia, a Union minister and a BJP leader, launched a sharp attack on Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, alleging that the party has been left with no ideology except the one of a "traitor" which works against the country.
Ahead of the launch of his autobiography, Azad has been giving a series of interviews, slamming the Congress leadership and the party. In an interview with PTI, Azad said he believes the Congress is still run by "remote control" and alleges that a "new coterie of inexperienced sycophants" manage its affairs. Reacting to the scathing criticism by the two former Congress leaders, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter, "Both Ghulam Nabi Azad and Jyotiraditya Scindia have been huge beneficiaries of the Congress system and its leadership."
"With every passing day, they give powerful evidence that this generosity to them was undeserved. They reveal their true character which they kept hidden for so long," Ramesh said, slamming Scindia and Azad. Talking to reporters at the AICC headquarters, Congress' media department head Pawan Khera slammed Azad, saying he is following the ideology which he had opposed for 50 years.
"Now when he sings paeans to the king, it is laughable. The one who was considered God by our workers has turned out not even to be a clay idol," he said. The party that gave him so much, he is now cursing that very party, Khera said of Azad. "If a leader who spent 50 years in the party and still betrayed it, how will the party trust workers like us...he (Azad) has been asserting for the last two days that he is now Azaad (free), but he has actually become 'ghulam (slave)'," the Congress leader said.
Ahead of the release of his book 'Azaad -- An Autobiography', the former Congress stalwart, who quit the party last year, said Rahul Gandhi might not be holding any post as of now but everyone knows that he is the "captain of the ship (Congress)" and everybody knows who is calling the shots". "The remote-control model that destroyed the institutional integrity of the party to the manner in which proxies were being propped up to take over the leadership of the party, it was a no-holds-barred account of how the grand old party had lost both the will and the ability to fight for what is right for India", the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief said.
Earlier in the day, the Congress also hit back at Union minister Scindia for his scathing criticism of Rahul Gandhi, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should "beware" of a man who did not stay loyal to his former party and will also "not be loyal" to him. The BJP leader attacked the Congress for according Gandhi a "special treatment" following his conviction in a defamation case and accused the party of pressuring the judiciary, and doing everything possible to stay relevant.
Slamming Scindia for his remarks, Khera said, "When Mr. Scindia talks about doing things to stay politically relevant, I can think of his own example. To stay politically relevant he changed his party, he changed his friends, he changed his loyalties and he is giving us a lecture on how to stay politically relevant." "As far as pressuring the judiciary is concerned, it is Mr Kiren Rijiju who keeps issuing threats to the judiciary, the RSS' Panchjanya writes an article on how Supreme Court is becoming a tool of anti-nationals who is trying to pressure the judiciary. Who is saying retired judges are anti-nationals, Mr Kiren Rijiju is saying that. So ask Mr Scindia to advise his colleague not to pressure and threaten the judiciary," Khera said in a video statement posted on his Twitter account.
Khera also hit out at Scindia for his dig at the Gandhis that some people are "first class citizens" for the Congress, saying a man who wants to be called a "Maharaj" in free independent India is talking about this. "He (Scindia) wants to be called and treated like a first class citizen. Ask him to read the history of his own empire," Khera said. "We would like advice the prime minister, please beware of the man who despite attaining political heights under the Congress party did not stay loyal to the Congress party, he will not be loyal to you," the Congress leader said.
Khera dismissed Scindia's allegations as "laughable", asserting that the Congress' fight is a fight to save democracy. "He (Scindia) will not understand this as he has gone to the BJP of late," Khera said, attacking the BJP leader. Scindia was in the Congress for a long time and was considered a close associate of Gandhi. He quit the party and joined the BJP in 2020 following differences with its leadership, especially in his home state Madhya Pradesh, leading to the fall of the Kamal Nath-led government. (PTI)
