Ghulam Nabi Azad quits Congress

A VETERAN leader of India’s main opposition Congress party quit on Friday, issuing a scathing resignation letter in which he blamed the scion of the influential Gandhi family for the decline of the party that dominated Indian politics for decades.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, a former federal minister who also ruled the disputed region of Kashmir, said he was leaving Congress after nearly 50 years and blamed the party’s de facto second-in-command, Rahul Gandhi, the son of party chief Sonia Gandhi, for its failings.

Congress spokesman Jairam Ramesh questioned the timing of Azad’s letter, saying it came as the party was working to organise nationwide campaigns.