By PTI
NEW DELHI: The Congress has failed to stem the exodus of leaders despite the promise of reforms, including structural changes and prominence to youth, by the beleaguered party at the recent brainstorming session in Udaipur With the exit of two influential leaders – Sunil Jakhar and Hardik Patel – in quick succession after the Chintan Shivir, a section of leaders in the party feels the changes have not generated enough hope as skepticism remains on their delivery.
Speaking on the Shivir, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said “the proof of the pudding is in the eating” and it remains to be seen whether the “process” will end up where many leaders wanted it to.
The Kerala MP was among the group of 23 leaders who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking large-scale reforms.
Jakhar, a former Punjab state unit chief with ties with the Congress spanning three generations, quit even as the Shivir was on and joined the BJP on Thursday.
Patel, a young leader who came into prominence with the Patidar quota agitation, had been elevated as the working president of the Gujarat unit in July 2020 as part of efforts to strengthen the party and strongly take on the BJP.
ALSO READ | Jakhar started working for BJP long before joining it: Punjab Congress chief
He quit the party on Wednesday while launching a scathing attack on the Congress leadership.
The Congress is seen making little effort to woo its leaders back and Rahul Gandhi has been saying for quite some time in internal party forums that anyone who succumbs to the pressure of the BJP in this ”fight for ideology” is free to leave.
Other leaders who have quit in the recent past have also held senior positions either in the government or the organisation, but have still decided to move on as infighting plagues many of its state units.
A suspended Congress leader has said that the “Congress party has stopped having conversations within itself” and cited it as the reason for the defections.
The party had recently lost former Assam PCC chief Ripun Bora, former union ministers Ashwani Kumar and R P N Singh, former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro and chief whip in Rajya Sabha Bhubaneswar Kalita.
Senior leaders like Jitin Prasada and Jyotiraditya Scindia, besides former Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev and P C Chacko have also quit in the recent past.
Both Jakhar and Patel hit out at the Congress, saying it has failed to meet the aspirations of the people.
ALSO READ | Hardik quit Cong fearing jail in sedition cases, says party leader; claims his resignation scripted by BJP
Jakhar turned emotional while recalling his five-decade association with the old party and said he decided to quit when attempts were made to silence his voice by issuing him a show-cause for anti-party activities.
“It is not easy to break a relationship with the Congress that spanned three generations – from 1972 till now. We had been with the Congress in good times and bad,” he told reporters.
In his resignation letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi ahead of this year’s Gujarat Assembly poll, Patel (28) accused the party’s top leadership of behaving as if they hated Gujarat and Gujaratis.
He also criticised the party’s stand on Article 370, Ram temple and GST.
