Gourav Vallabh, who resigned from the Congress citing the party’s “lack of direction,” has now joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the national capital on Thursday. Vallabh formally joined the BJP at an event held at the party’s headquarters in Delhi.
Expressing his reasons for leaving the Congress, Vallabh mentioned feeling ‘hurt’ over the party’s silence when some influential figures within the party and its allies in the INDIA bloc made derogatory remarks against Sanatan Dharma.
Speaking to ANI after his decision to part ways with the Congress, Vallabh stated, “I wrote to (Congress national president) Mallikarjun Kharge, expressing all my concerns and emotions. I was hurt by my party’s silence when some prominent leaders in the INDIA bloc made unsavoury remarks against Sanatan. I also publicly opposed our party’s stand on Ram Mandir (the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ of Lord Ram Lalla in Ayodhya).”
Known for his active participation and representation of the Congress in various TV debates, Vallabh revealed that he had grown uncomfortable with several stances taken by the party.
“I am uncomfortable with the directionless way in which the Congress Party is moving forward today. I can neither raise anti-Sanatan slogans nor abuse the wealth creators of the country all day long, which is why I am resigning from all posts and primary membership of the Congress Party,” he stated in a post on X.
He further alleged that the Congress party is moving in the wrong direction, going against the “basic principles of the party.”
“These days the party is moving in the wrong direction. On one hand, we talk about the caste-based census and on the other hand, the party seems to oppose the entire Hindu society. This style of working gives a misleading message to the public that the party is a supporter of a particular religion only. This is against the basic principles of Congress,” he remarked.
In his two-page letter, the former Congress spokesperson also criticized the party’s stance on economic matters, accusing them of “always humiliating and abusing the wealth creators of the country.”
“Today, we have turned against those economic liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation (LPG) policies, for which the world has given us credit for implementing in the country. Is it wrong to earn money by doing business in our country?” he questioned.
“When I joined the party, my only aim was to use my ability and capability in economic matters in the interest of the country. We may not be in power, but we could have presented the party’s economic policy-making in the national interest in a better way in our manifesto and elsewhere. But, this effort was not made at the party level,” he lamented.
Notably, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has been vocally critical of industry leaders like Gautam Adani, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has favored them unduly.
Gourav Vallabh had contested the Rajasthan assembly election from the Udaipur constituency in 2023 but lost to the BJP candidate with a margin of around 32,000 votes.