Ghulam Nabi Azad's step of resigning has been one of 'Congress todo' instead of 'jodo': Digvijaya Singh

NEW DELHI: Ghulam Nabi Azad's decision to resign from the party has been one of "Congress todo (breaking the Congress)" instead of "Congress jodo (uniting the Congress)", senior party leader Digvijaya Singh said on Friday.
Azad's shock move came a couple of days ahead of a virtual meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body in the party, to approve the exact schedule of the organisational polls. Congress president Sonia Gandhi will preside over the CWC meeting on Sunday.
Azad ended his five-decade-long association with the Congress, saying the party has been "comprehensively destroyed" and lashing out at Rahul Gandhi for "demolishing" its entire consultative mechanism.
Singh, who heads the Congress committee organising the "Bharat Jodo Yatra" from Kanyakumari to Kashmir starting September 7, slammed Azad for his remarks that before starting the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the party leadership should have undertaken a "Congress jodo" exercise across the country.
"You may have relations with those who abrogated Article 370 (of the Constitution), you may have developed close ties with them. You have written that Congress jodo is needed and in the same letter, you are saying there is no need for Bharat jodo. Instead of Congress jodo, your step has been for Congress todo and I strongly condemn it," Singh said.
"You have taken this step when Sonia Gandhi, whose family gave you everything, has gone abroad for treatment. I did not expect this from you. The Congress has given you everything and in these critical times, you should stand with the party," he added.
The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said he hoped all Congress workers will strongly condemn Azad's decision and resolutely participate in the "Bharat Jodo Yatra".
"The way divisions are being created, atrocities are being committed against minorities, Dalits and Adivasis -- at that time, you are leaving the party. I am saddened. I did not expect this from you," Singh said.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said, "Disappointed to see Sri Azad resign from the Congress. Leaving at this juncture will only strengthen the very fascist forces which is out to destroy the social fabric and Constitution of India. A better decision should have been taken keeping the interest of the nation in mind."
"When the country is facing difficult times, Congress leaders and workers need to stay united and strengthen the party despite any differences. Our actions should not weaken the Congress movement, which has always stood by the nation in turbulent times," he said.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir Rajani Patil also launched a scathing attack on Azad, saying "Soch se shayad ghulam hi rahe honge, tabhi aaj khud ko azad samajh rahe hain (perhaps he must have been a slave in his thinking, that is why he is considering himself free today)."
"Enjoyed power for years and left his own people for opportunism at a time of struggle, this thinking reflects the feeling of slavery and deceit," she said.
Congress's Rajya Sabha MP Shaktisinh Gohil also lashed out at Azad, saying it was the party that made him a "hero from zero".
"He got everything and when he was retiring from the Rajya Sabha, instead of accepting that, he may have fallen in the trap of the crocodile tears shed by (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi. Modi was being sarcastic against the party but Azad never refuted him (during his farewell in Parliament)," Gohil said.
In a tweet, Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala hit out at Azad, saying "1980 to 2021 -- Continuous enjoyment of power under four generations of Gandhis (24 years Union Minister - J&K CM - 35 yrs GS), yet the same people and system is to be blamed in a vicious manner in the end. Tells a lot about character of the person and sense of gratitude for the Party."