Soon after the women's wing chief of the Congress Sushmita Dev resigned, senior leader Kapil Sibal said on August 16 that the party is moving on with its "eyes wide shut" as young leaders quit.
Sibal, a member of the "Group of 23" leaders who had written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi seeking organisational overhaul last year, has been demanding that the party be strengthened. On August 15, he urged Sonia Gandhi to strengthen her own party, saying no Opposition unity is possible without it. Last week, Sibal hosted a group of Opposition leaders over dinner at his house. Gandhi’s were not among the guests, though.
The series of defections in the Congress party which began ahead of the 2014 general elections continue unabated. Sushmita Dev’s exit is the latest.
Apart from the leadership crisis at the top, the party is also facing trouble in states like Rajasthan, where former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot rebelled against the state leadership. The party's high command has been making several attempts to placate Pilot, though
In Punjab, the Congress, it seems has handled the situation in Punjab where Navjot Singh Sidhu revolted against chief minister Amarinder Singh. For now, Sidhu has been made Punjab Congress president months ahead of assembly polls in the state.
In recent years, among the senior Congress leaders who served as union ministers in the Congress government but decided to leave the party, were former External Affairs Minister in the UPA government, SM Krishna, former Union Power Minister in the UPA government Jyotiraditya Scindia, Rao Inderjit Singh, who served as Textile Minister in the UPA government. The list of defectors includes several former Chief Ministers of the Congress such as late ND Tiwari, Narayan Rane, now a minister in PM Modi’s cabinet, and Shankersinh Vaghela.
Here is a list of Congress leaders who quit the party recently:
Sushmita Dev, 48
Senior Congress leader and president of All India Mahila Congress, Sushmita Dev resigned from the party on August 15. Dev, former Member of Parliament from Silchar in Assam sent her resignation to the party’s interim chief Sonia Gandhi. She is likely to join Trinamool Congress where she is expected to be entrusted with responsibility in Tripura. Jitin Prasada, 47
Congress leader and former Union Minister Jitin Prasada joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on June 9. Prasada, 47 was the second high-profile former Rahul Gandhi aide to join the BJP after Jyotiraditya Scindia who joined BJP last year ahead of by-polls in Madhya Pradesh. Prasada’s move is seen as a setback to the already-struggling Congress ahead of the next year’s crucial assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, where the Yogi Adiyanath-led BJP government will be seeking re-election.
READ: Jitin Prasada’s exit is symbolic of the rot in the Congress
Prasada was targeted internally in UP Congress after he signed the letter, along with other 22 Congress leaders, questioning the leadership, according to reports.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, 50
Senior leader and former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in March last year. Scindia had tendered his resignation from the party on stating that he wanted to “look ahead at a fresh start” to “reflect and realise” the aspirations of "my people and my workers". His resignation triggered a chain of events that finally culminated in the collapse of the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh and paved the way for the saffron party to assume power which it lost towards the end of 2018. Last month, Scindia was inducted into PM Narendra Modi’s cabinet and handed over Civil Aviation portfolio.
PC Chacko, 74
Another senior leader PC Chacko announced his resignation from the Congress party on March 10. Chacko alleged group interest in deciding party candidates for the April assembly elections in Kerala. The four-time Member of Parliament then joined the NCP. The Left Parties-led LDF won 97 while the Congress-led-UDF won 47 seats in the 140-member Kerala assembly.
Also, read: PC Chacko Interview | Congress headless, adhocism at the top hurting party
Sumitra Devi Kasdekar, 38
Congress MLA from Nepanagar in Madhya Pradesh's Burhanpur district, Sumitra Devi Kasdekar resigned from the Assembly on July 17 and joined the ruling BJP. It was another jolt to the Congress in the state days after the resignation of Pradyuman Singh Lodhi.
Kasdekar submitted her resignation in person to pro-term Speaker Rameshwar Sharma in the afternoon. She said she was ignored in the party and no development took place in her tribal constituency during the Congress' 15-months regime.
Pradyumna Singh Lodhi, 53
Kunwar Pradyumna Singh Lodhi, Congress MLA from Malhara in Chhatarpur district in Madhya Pradesh, also resigned and joined the BJP on July 12 dealing another jolt to the Congress. The Congress numbers in Madhya Pradesh have now dropped to 90. In March last year, 22 Congress MLAs who supported rebel leader Jyotiraditya Scindia had resigned precipitating the fall of the Kamal Nath government and later joined the BJP. Eleven of them have been appointed as ministers in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
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