Ghulam Nabi Azad  has quit Congress. Azad said in his resignation letter that the 23 leaders who wrote to point out weaknesses in the party were abused, insulted, humiliated, vilified

The Congress, he said, has lost both the will and the ability under tutelage of the coterie that runs the AICC to fight for what is right for India, Azad, who is part of the G-23 group seeking change in party, said.

Before starting a ‘Bharat jodo yatra’, the leadership should have undertaken a ‘Congress jodo yatra’, the veteran leader said in his letter.

The 23 leaders who wrote to point out weaknesses in the party were abused, insulted, humiliated, vilified, Azad said. At no place have elections been held at any level of organisation, he added while announcing his resignation from the Congress.

The situation in the Congress, he said, has reached a point of no return and now “proxies” are being propped to take over leadership of the party, he said. Holding the leadership squarely responsible for perpetrating “giant fraud” on the party, Azad said handpicked lieutenants of the AICC were coerced to sign on lists prepared by coterie that runs the organisation.

The Congress  called Ghulam Nabi Azad’s resignation “unfortunate” and termed the timing “awful”, saying it has come at a time when the party is engaged in combating the BJP on various issues. “Ghulam Nabi Azad was a senior leader of the Congress. It is saddening that when the party fighting against inflation and polarisation, he decided to quit.

“It is most unfortunate and regrettable that this has happened when the entire organisation is engaged in combating the BJP on issues of price rise and unemployment,” the Congress said. Party General Secretary Jairam Ramesh also questioned the contents of the letter written by Azad. “Content of the letter is not factual, timing is awful,” he said.