Launching Personal Attacks On Opponents Not Congress Culture: GN Azad

New Delhi: We got our political education under Indira Gandhi and it was unthinkable for politicians like me to launch a personal attack on opponents, Ghulam Nabi Azad told NDTV in an interview on Monday. 

“We can attack Modi right, left and centre, but we can't go personal like this?  Is this the language senior cabinet ministers should use?,” Azad wondered. 

Azad, who quit the Congress party last week, had attacked Rahul Gandhi in a five-page resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi. He called Rahul's act of tearing up a 2013 ordinance in full public view, a childish behaviour. He said this behaviour is a glaring example of his immaturity and blamed it for the defeat of the UPA government in 2014.

“The act eroded the authority of the PM (Manmohan Singh) and the entire cabinet. I don't know if Rahul ji knows till today how ordinances are issued. Anything passed under the leadership of the head of government and head of state and you tear it up in the public domain,” Azad remarked.

Azad further said Rahul Gandhi insulted senior Congress leaders when he asked them to raise their hands if they supported his “Chowkidar Chor Hai” slogan against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019. He said this demand made many veterans in the party uncomfortable. 

Rahul Gandhi, according to Azad, asked for a show of hands for those who ever used his slogan while campaigning. Senior leaders like Manmohan Singh, AK Antony, P Chidambaram and Mr Azad were present at the time.

“He made everybody raise their hands - those who said chowkidar chor hai. I was sunk in my chair. So many senior people who have been Chief Minister, ministers with Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao - how do you expect them to speak this language in public?"

The former Congress leader also said that after BJP regained power in the general elections, Rahul Gandhi quit as Congress president. Azad said earlier in the day, during a marathon meeting of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi stated that it had become impossible for him to function because of the resistance of the seniors in the party and he also lamented that no one supported his ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ campaign. 

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Azad further said that Sonia Gandhi was aware of what her son was doing but was completely dependent on him.

“All mothers are like that. All mothers, my mother, your mother, have a weakness for their children,” the former Congress leader added. 

(With inputs from NDTV )