'Good luck and goodbye, Congress': Sunil Jakhar's parting shot as he quits party

Tribune News Service

Rajmeet Singh
Chandigarh, May 14

Amid Congress’ Chintan Shivir, disgruntled Congress leader from Punjab, Sunil Jakhar, on Saturday said goodbye to the party. He announced it on Facebook, while going LIVE.

He, however, did not give any indication of joining other political party.

Before he ended his ‘mann ki baat’ on Facebook, Sunil Jakhar said 'Goodbye and Goodluck Congress'.

Sunil Jakhar targeted Ambika Soni for misguiding the Congress president and Rahul Gandhi on not only Punjab affairs, but also on other states.

He also accused the Congress high command of listening to a particular Punjab leader on the issue of the CM’s appointment after Capt Amarinder Sing’s ouster.

Sunil said he was heartbroken on being “stripped of all party posts” for “not toeing the party line” after three generations of his family had served the Congress for 50 years.  

He said while he was angry with the party, but at the same time feels sorry for it.

The three-time MLA and one-time MP minced no words alleging that the three-day Chintan Shivir or brainstorming session of the party currently underway in Udaipur in Rajasthan was a “farce”.

He said: "Instead of ‘chintan shivar’ it should have been ‘chinta shivar’ on how to save the party. "

He called the leaders attending the Congress shiver as mere “cheer leader”. He said that the Congress workshop was just a formalist. He slammed the party for discussing the non-serious issues, which will not help the Congress rebuild.

In what he described as a parting gift to Congress, he advised the Gandhis to know the diffrence between "friends and foes" and also between assets and liability. The former PPCC chief blamed Ambika Soni of misguiding the Congress president and Rahul Gandhi on not only Punjab, but also on other states.

Taking a dig at Ambika Soni and her set of followers, Jakhar alleged “the Congress leaders sitting in Delhi ruined the party in Punjab”.

Flagging Ambika Soni’s statement on the “repercussions of having a Hindu chief minister in Punjab”, he said the end result was for a disastrous show by the party in the February-March assembly polls.

The former PPCC chief asked party president as to why Ambika Soni was not thrown out of party for volleying Hindus and Sikhs and trying to portray the secular party in caste and religion lines.

People by rejecting the Dalit card voted above caste and religion, he said. “Unless you get rid of leaders like Ambika Soni, there cannot be revival of the party”.

He said an attempt was also made “to present the Congress as a poor BSP in the state”, the veteran said. “Don’t drift from your ideology,” he told Congress president Sonia Gandhi in an emotional outburst.

He also targeted Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Chaudhary and former state in-charge Harish Rawat.

Hours before going LIVE on Facebook to speak his ‘mann ki baat’, Sunil Jakhar had removed the Congress from his Twitter bio, indicating his future line of action.

Jakhar who had been served show cause notice for his "anti-party" statements did not respond to the show cause notice, before the anti-disciplinary committee decided to remove him from all-party positions.

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