Congress suffers a big blow as Ashwani Kumar resigns & lashes out at leadership

The Congress suffered a big blow ahead of the Punjab assembly elections as the former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar resigned from the party on Tuesday (February 15) stating that in the “present circumstances” he felt he could best serve larger national causes outside the party fold.

His decision was “consistent with my dignity”, he wrote in his “polite” resignation letter to Congress chief, Sonia Gandhi, for whom he has “great regard” for, as he said in a TV channel interview later.

The former Rajya Sabha MP and Congress leader from Gurdaspur in Punjab wrote in his resignation letter that he is quitting the party after a long association of 46 years and “hope(s) to proactively pursue public causes inspired by the idea of transformative leadership, based on the dignitarian promise of a liberal democracy envisioned by our freedom fighters.”

In an interview to the media, he denied meeting anyone in the BJP. He has not made any decision as yet to join any other political party, he said, adding that he was in no hurry.

Against the Congress

However, Ashwani Kumar, who considers former PM Manmohan Singh as his mentor and friend, did not mince words when it came to criticising his former party. In his many interviews to national dailies, he lashed out at the Congress stating that it no longer reflected the mood of the nation and he only saw the party going downhill in the future.

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“It is time to call a spade a spade,” he told NDTV, adding that the kind of leadership projected in Punjab by the Congress is the worst in the last 40 years.

Kumar, who was once the spokesperson of the Congress, slammed the party for making caste as the basis of choosing a CM candidate in Punjab. He also condemned and resented the way former Congress leader Amarinder Singh was “humiliated” and had to resign.

Further, he predicted that the elections will be won by Aam Aadmi Party, as Congress does not promise a “transformative leadership” to the nation.

Bad optics for Congress before the polls

A political commentator meanwhile said that Ashwani Kumar’s resignation is definitely “bad optics before the polls” for the Congress. But in reality, Kumar had no base; he was lobbying hard for a ticket for his son from the Sujanpur assembly seat, which the party had denied. Kumar, a former minister of state for planning, and minister of state for parliamentary affairs, had also backed Sidhu’s appointment as Punjab Congress chief.

However, this resignation is expected to play out badly for the Congress in the Majha region where there is a substantial Hindu vote bank.

When Ashwani Kumar was asked about the timing of his resignation by reporters, he said that “a time comes when you cannot take it anymore”. “I have had sleepless nights, I felt it was time I should rise in my own esteem, why stick around if I feel so uncomfortable?” he said.

Ashwani Kumar joins a legion of senior leaders exiting the Congress like the former union minister R P N Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, Sushmita Dev and Louisinho Faleiro.

According to Kumar, the senior leaders are “dejected, oppressed and diminished” and have to wait for days to get an appointment with the central leadership. But, only time will tell, who has the strength to walk out and chart out their own course, he added.