BENGALURU: With Gourav Vallabh -- a former Congress spokesperson -- switching over to the BJP, Congress national spokesperson Anshul Avijit said, “Those uncomfortable with the party’s ideology are free to leave.”
Avijit on Thursday was in Chitradurga along with CM Siddaramaiah accompanying candidate BN Chandrappa, who filed his nomination from the reserved constituency. Vallabh is the third high-profile Congress leader to quit the party in two days after the exit of boxer Vijender Singh and Sanjay Nirupam.
“Attrition on the eve of elections is normal. A lot of people from BJP have joined us as well. But those who have quit Congress quoting ideological differences would have been a misfit if they had not left us. I wish them well,” he said. “They are scared of being hounded by Central agencies and are joining the saffron party to escape the witch hunt,” charged Avijit, who is the son of former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and grandson of longest serving Union minister Late Babu Jagjivan Ram.
“We are committed to secularism, social justice and economic empowerment. Our plank of social justice is for inclusive growth and march towards modernity. We are fighting against polarisation, crony capitalism and abuse of power by the executive under which the BJP has weaponised government agencies and institutions against the opposition,” he charged.
Countering the speculation that the exodus of his party spokespersons will weaken its campaign against their rival, Avijit said the morale of the Congress and its alliance partners under the I.N.D.I.A bloc is robust. “The cadres are agile and galvanised. Our campaigns are on positives - the set of guarantees that are meant to rejuvenate the economy of the country and provide employment,” he said.