Former Congress leaders now rule five states
At least five governments in the country are now being ruled by former leaders in Congress.
Believe it or not, at least five governments in the country are now being ruled by former leaders in Congress.
The interesting tidbit was revealed by none other than senior Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
“There will now be three BJP-ruled states in the North East where chief minister is a former Congressman,’’ tweeted Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi. They are Assam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma, Pema Khandu of Arunachal Pradesh and N Biren Singh of Manipur.
His tweet came a day after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi told the Congress Working Committee meeting that “if we do not face up to the reality, if we do not look the facts in the face, we will not draw the right lessons”.
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Two other CMs can be added to the list: West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee who founded the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Puducherry’s N Rangaswamy, founder of the NR Congress.
Singhvi pointed to a coincidence. “I genuinely tweeted it when I noticed a striking coincidence in northeastern states,’’ said Singhvi. “Now that you ask me, there are three other such CMs that have similar umbilical cords. This is merely underlining and not a value judgment on either the Congress or the persons concerned.’’
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His remark led former Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha to tweet that “both Mamata Banerjee and Himanta Biswa Sarma… left because of our arrogance. And disrespect of their opinions. Add Jyotiraditya Scindia to the list. It’s long. It is never too late to learn from one’s blunders,”.
Sarma quit the Congress before the 2014 elections after differences with his mentor Tarun Gogoi. The BJP’s decision to move him to the CM’s post is being seen as the party’s recognition of his influence beyond Assam, especially with key elections coming up in other northeastern states.
Similarly, N Rangaswamy, who has now become the CM of Puducherry for the fourth time, is a Congress veteran who formed his own party in 2011.
