Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is heading G-23, a group of senior Congress leaders demanding sweeping changes within the Congress, on Sunday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his many qualities, at a public meeting in Jammu.
His words came a day after Azad and many senior Congress leaders said that they were the Congress and wanted the party to be aggressive in the field and enrol the youth to be a viable Opposition.
Addressing a huge rally in Jammu on Sunday, former Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Nabi Azad drew parallels between himself and the Prime Minister, and said that he appreciates that the PM does not hide his true self. He also made some oblique references, supposedly to the coterie of the Gandhis, by saying that “those who hide their true self are living in a bubble”.
“I like a lot of things about many leaders. I’m from a village and am proud of that… I’m also proud that leaders like our Prime Minister, who used to sell tea, also come from villages. We may be rivals but I appreciate he doesn’t hide his true self,” Azad said in a video shared by ANI.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Modi had been moved to tears in the Parliament while bidding farewell to Azad. “I (will) not let you retire, I will continue taking your advice. My doors are always open for you,” the PM had said at the occasion.
The latest speech by Azad in Jammu praising PM Modi is yet another punch by the rebel group of Congress politicians thrown at the coterie close to Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, as the North-South divide is now more visible within the party.
Earlier on Saturday, senior Congress leaders including Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma and Manish Tiwari repeated their call for change within the Congress in a joint public rally at Jammu. Sibal spoke candidly during the public meeting, questioning the wisdom of the Congress leadership for not utilising the experience of Azad by letting him retire from the Rajya Sabha.
Reacting to their utterances in Jammu, Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi while speaking at the Congress headquarters said that the senior Congress leaders should organise such gatherings in poll-bound states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Azad’s group, the G-23, had expected Anand Sharma to be the Leader of Opposition but the Gandhis decided to bring Kharge instead as he belongs to the South. Recently, Rahul Gandhi made a controversial remark in Kerala by trying to divide the North and the South.
