Ghulam Nabi Azad EXCLUSIVE: Rahul Gandhi has links with stained businessmen
Former Congress leader and Democratic Progressive Azad Party chief Ghulam Nabi Azad has made explosive revelations about Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party
FollowFormer Congress leader and Democratic Progressive Azad Party chief Ghulam Nabi Azad has made explosive revelations about Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party, accusing them of misleading the nation on various counts. In an exclusive conversation with Asianet News Resident Editor Prasant Reghuvamsam for a special edition of the Asianet News Dialogues, Azad lashed out at Rahul Gandhi for the latter's recent Twitter post criticising him and four other ex-Congress leaders and linking them with the billionaire Gautam Adani. Watch the full interview below or keep reading...
'Rahul has met people who are undesirable businessmen'
Azad said: "It is shameful that Rahul Gandhi is saying this. Their entire family has, all along, had an association with businessmen. That includes him (Rahul Gandhi). I have a great respect for the family. I can give you ten examples of where he would go and meet -- even outside the country -- to meet people who are undesirable businessmen."
'Rahul Gandhi has zero clout'
"Lots of people say that Rahul Gandhi's clout has increased after the Bharat Jodo Yatra. I was also under that impression like many in the country. But during the past 10 days, I realised he has zero clout," Azad said.
"In 1978, Mrs Gandhi was disqualified and jailed. Within a few hours, more than one lakh people went to jail. Ten lakh people were waiting outside the jail because there was no space in the jail. Ten thousand people accompanied me and took a protest march to Parliament. I was in Tihar Jail for about a month. Now, Rahul Gandhi, immediately after the Bharat Jodo Yatra, is disqualified and jailed, not even a mosquito has cried or come onto the road. He had to go to Surat court accompanied by working committee members from Delhi, MPs from Delhi and MLAs from Gujarat. Not a single youth or farmer from Gujarat joined."Â
'Congress going down the drain because of some half-a-dozen people'
"In the last four-five years of my stay in the Congress party, I used to get hypertension and acidity thinking that I could not do anything (freely). The suggestions we were giving the party leadership were totally ignored and neglected. I used to think 'Had this been done' or 'Had that been done' we would have got more seats in Parliament, and won in so many states. But on every occasion, the leadership would fail us. They will have only their say, and not listen to senior leaders. I don't feel very happy to see the Congress go down the drain because of the folly of some half-a-dozen people who are not interested in the future of the party; they are only interested in their own projection in the media and public," he said.
'Congress younger generation is ten times more frustrated'Â
Asked about veteran Congress leader AK Antony's son Anil K Antony quitting the Congress and joining the BJP, Azad said, "The younger generation is ten times more frustrated with the leadership than the elders like me. Most young leaders below 50 have left the Congress. It is not a question of one or two. From each state, I can count at least four-five dozen leaders, and most of those who left were part of Rahul Gandhi's team. They left because of the lack of leadership and direction from Rahul Gandhi."
'Present Congress leadership is promoting the BJP'
Terming Anil Antony's remark that BJP is the only national party in India as his own view, Azad said: "Who has made the BJP the only party? The present Congress leadership did. They have sat like ducks and not doing anything. Rather, they have been doing things that will help the BJP. It is the present leadership of the Congress that s promoting the BJP."
'Present Congress leadership does not say Muslims or minorities; they say backward'
"In the Congress party, during Indira Gandhi's time, whenever I accompanied her in the country, she would say: 'Muslims are poor, SC/STs are poor... we need to make programmes for them'. Some 20 years later, Congress leaders dropped the utterance of the word Muslim in public discourse. They would say 'minorities'. Now, the present leadership will not even use the word 'minorities'. They would SC/ST and backward; they will not mention even 'minorities'," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.
'There is no Congress left'
Azad said, "The downfall of the Congress is like that of the Mughal empire. It started from Nehru's time and then subsequently over a period of time. And ultimately, in 2014, we fell. The fall started decades back. No party will just fall in one year. The smaller the leader, the bigger the fall of the Congress party. The bigger leaders could bear the shocks. Now when we have leaders who cannot get themselves elected, they cannot bear the shocks."
"Where is the Congress? There is no Congress left; there are some individuals left. In some states, Congress is there not because of the party but because of their own personal leadership," said Azad while firmly ruling out any possibility of a return to the Congress.
