New Delhi, Aug 24, 2022, By Special Correspondent
New Delhi, Aug 24: In a fresh jolt to Congress, its leader Jaiveer Shergill on Wednesday resigned from the post of national spokesman, thereby becoming the third leader this month to quit party posts after veterans Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma gave up their posts in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh respectively.
Shergill’s outburst is the latest in what has been a string of losses for the Congress ever since Narendra Modi came to power at the Centre.
In the past few years, the party has seen some high-profile exits including those of Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada. Kapil Sibal, Ashwani Kumar and RPN Singh.
"It pains me to say that decision-making is no longer for interests of public & country, rather it's influenced by the self-serving interests of individuals indulging in sycophancy & consistently ignoring on-ground reality", wrote Shergill in his resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi.
"I've resigned from all posts in the Congress party. The primary reason for the resignation is that the decision-making in INC is no longer being done keeping the interests of the public. It's purely being influenced by a coterie who merely indulges in sycophancy," Shergill said while lashing out at the party.
"In the past 8 years, I've not taken anything from Congress but only poured into the party. Today when I'm being pushed to bow down before people because they're close to the top leadership; this isn't acceptable to me," he said.
"The decision-making of the Congress party is not in sync with the ground reality anymore. I've been seeking time from Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi & Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for more than a year, but we are not welcomed in the office," he added.
Shergill said sycophancy was eating into the party like ‘termites’.
He said that the vision of the party leadership “is no longer in sync with the aspirations of the youth”.
Shergill, 39, is a lawyer by profession and has been one of the youngest faces of the party.
He told mediapersons that he had been seeking time with the Gandhis for over a year now, but failed to get an audience with either of them.
Calling out the culture of “sycophancy” in the party, Shergill said that he was being forced to bow before people “only because they’re close to the top leadership”.
“In the past eight years, I have not taken anything from the Congress, only poured into the party. Today when I’m being pushed to bow down before people because they’re close to the top leadership – this isn’t acceptable to me,” he said.
Shergill further cited a growing disconnect between the ideology and the vision of the party’s decision-makers and the aspirations of the youth and modern India.
“It pains me to say that decision-making is no longer for the interest of the public and the country. Rather, it is influenced by the self-serving interests of individuals indulging in sycophancy and consistently ignoring on-ground reality. This is something I cannot morally accept or continue to work with,” Shergill wrote in his resignation letter.