The Congress party has been rocked by a series of resignations of key leaders in various US states. Speculation is now rife regarding Congress veteran Kamal Nath's possible switch to the BJP. The exodus of Congress leaders comes amid reports of party dissatisfaction with its direction and strategy. The timing of these resignations could not be worse for the Congress Party, as the party prepares to challenge the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. With each departure, the party not only loses an experienced leader, but also risks damaging its electoral prospects and weakening its organizational structure in key constituencies.
Here are some top Congress leaders who left the party in recent years:
There is a growing list of prominent politicians who have recently left their old major parties. {{^userSubscribe}} {{/userSubscribe}} {{^userSubscribe}} {{/userSubscribe}}
Jyotiraditya Scindia: Scindia left the Congress party in March 2020 along with at least 22 MLAs from Madhya Pradesh, leading to the fall of the Kamal Nath government. In his resignation letter to then Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Scindia said the Congress had “resigned itself over the last year”. Scindia reportedly felt marginalized within the party and felt his concerns were not being adequately addressed. He eventually joined the rival BJP and became a Union minister in the Narendra Modi government.
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Jitin Prasada: Touted as one of the “Young Turks” in the Congress who is expected to play a key role in Rahul Gandhi's team, Jitin Prasada left the grand old party in June 2021, months before the Uttar Pradesh legislative elections. Congress member and close associate Jitin Prasada says he is increasingly unhappy with the situation in Uttar Pradesh in general, and his home region, Shahjahanpur, in particular. Prasada won Lok Sabha elections in 2004 and 2009 and was a Union minister in the previous Congress-led government.
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Amarinder Singh: Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh resigned from the Indian National Congress in November 2021 following a long dispute with Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu and several party legislators. In a seven-page resignation letter addressed to Sonia Gandhi, Singh said a “midnight plot” was carried out against him at the behest of her and her children by holding a Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting over his head in the middle of the night and that too. via Twitter is the most “terrifying” action. He launched a new organization, the Punjab Lok Congress, and later merged it with the BJP.
RPN Singh: Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh, another 'Young Turk', known as RPN Singh, switched to the BJP in January 2022, days before the UP Assembly elections. Singh lamented that the party he had joined for 32 years was no longer what it used to be. Singh was recently nominated by the BJP as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
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Ashwani Kumar: In February 2022, former Union minister Ashwani Kumar ended his 46-year association with the party which, he said, “had lost touch with ground realities and no longer reflected the national mood”. He also criticized the way Amarinder Singh was humiliated into resigning and correctly predicted a comfortable victory for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab.
Kapil Sibal: Senior advocate and former Union minister Kapil Sibal resigned from the Congress party in May 2022 and was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an independent candidate with support from the Samajwadi Party. Although Sibal was a member of the G23 who raised concerns over the functioning of the party, he has avoided attacking the Congress since his exit, unlike his other colleagues. Sibal served as minister during the ten-year UPA government, moving between the portfolios of science and technology, law, human resource development, and geosciences.
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Sunil Jakhar: Former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar announced his resignation during a Facebook Live in May 2022 and joined the BJP within a week. Removed from office for “anti-party activities”, Jakhar asked Rahul Gandhi to regain control and warned him to “distance himself from palace officials”. Jakhar said it was not easy for him to leave the Congress, which he said had been in his family for three generations.
Ghulam Nabi Azad: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and Congress veteran Ghulab Nabi Azad resigned from the party's core membership in August 2022 in a scathing letter attacking Rahul Gandhi. In a five-page note to party interim president Sonia Gandhi, Azad said the Congress party had reached a point of “no return”. Azad said the situation had gotten worse since the 2019 elections, after Rahul Gandhi resigned out of anger and insulted all senior party officials who had laid down their lives for the party.
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Milind Deora: Former Union Minister Milind Deora joins the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on the same day Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra begins Manipur's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in January 2024. Deora says he has switched sides since the Congress “is no longer his party “. He was nominated by the Shiv Sena for the Rajya Sabha polls.
Ashok Chavan: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who once led the revival of the party's state unit, resigned from the Congress and joined the rival BJP earlier this month. Ashok Chavan is the third prominent Congress leader in the state to quit the party after Milind Deora and Baba Siddique last month. Chavan said his decision to join the BJP was driven by a desire for better opportunities and his belief in the BJP's growing influence at the national and state levels.
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