‘For what I did to him, he was too generous’, ex- Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad praises PM Modi

The former Congress leader further said, “I must give credit to Modi. For what I did to him, he was too generous”. He mentioned the he had, as the leader of Opposition int he Parliament, ‘got some Bills totally failed’.

He praised PM Modi for ‘not taking revenge for that’. Azad said that PM Modi behaved like a true ‘statesman’ in the way he handled the opposition’s berating of ‘Article 370 or CAA or hijab’.

Notably, this is not the first time the former Congress leader has praised PM Modi. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister in 2021 had said he appreciates Modi for not hiding the fact that he hails from a village and sold tea.

“Nehru ji, Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi could bear the shock, they had endurance, they had public support and respect and with their work over a period of time, they could rebound. Current Congress leadership has no influence over people”, Azad said in the interview. 

Azad’s response had comes after PM Modi praised him, calling the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) leader a ‘true friend’. “Power comes and goes, but only a few know how to digest it. Therefore, as a friend, I respect him for the things he has done over the years”, the prime minister had said.

Azad’s remark, ahead of the crucial four Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, come as a sharp contrast to the emerging opposition to the ruling NDA government helmed by PM Narendra Modi. 

Ghulam Nabi Azad on Congress

“Nehru ji, Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi could bear the shock, they had endurance, they had public support and respect and with their work over a period of time, they could rebound. Current Congress leadership has no influence over people”, Azad said in the interview.

He further stated, “I don’t want to expose and totally demolish Congress. I may have some differences with leadership, but I have no differences with Congress party or Congress ideology. I have no difference of opinion with Congress ideology or earlier Congress leadership. Of course here and there in my book, I mentioned what went wrong during Nehru ji’s time, Indira ji’s time, Rajiv ji’s time but I also said they were tall leaders”.

Ghulam Nabi Azad had quit being apart of Congress in 2022 and formed his own party in Jammu and Kashmir- Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP). The veteran Congress leader, who served the grand old party for 52 years, wrote a five page resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi.

In the letter he alleged that the party has lost both the will and the ability under tutelage of the coterie that runs the AICC to fight for what is right for India. “This all happened because the leadership in the past 08 years has tried to foist a non-serious individual at the helm of the party”, Azad had said explaining why the Congress ceded space to the BJP in the national level and regional parties in the state level.