Another Congress Spokesman Joins BJP. His Parting Shot

Congress spokesperson Rohan Gupta crossed over to the BJP today, accusing the Grand Old Party of flipping its ideology, giving out contradictory messages, arrogance and treading on people's "self-respect". Speaking to NDTV in an exclusive interview, Mr Gupta said the party has lost direction and credibility, thanks to leaders with "Leftist views" who are arrogant enough to ignore feedback from the grassroot level.

While he did not name anyone, he made his target clear, "the person who is handling communications for the party". This leader, Mr Gupta said, not only failed to call up when his father was ailing and in hospital, he was also responsible for much of the garbled messages emanating from the party.

"Ever since he has taken charge, there has been many issues, nationalism, Sanatan, alliances with Aam Aadmi Party... I along with many others were extremely upset. But we soldiered on," he said. The final straw was when he did not receive even a courtesy call about his father. "I thought it was time to call it a day... It was a matter of self-respect," Mr Gupta told NDTV.

Though the Congress is yet to comment on his departure -- Mr Gupta is the latest of a string of leaders from the party's communications section to leave -- he tackled the thorny issue of the party's response.

"Every time anyone leaves they are criticised -- 'He left because of greed. He was scared' -- what about self-respect? When people like us give feedback from the ground, it should be heard. Leaders who cannot listen should not be given a free run," he said.

Asked why he decided to join the BJP, which he has been criticising so strongly on behalf of the Congress, he said it was about the long-term vision of the party. The BJP today stands for everything the Congress once represented, he said. "Primarily the two core values of centrist policies and nationalism, which had helped the Congress rule for 60 years," he said.

But over the last two years, these values have been overtaken by Leftist ideas, which were at the root of the Congress's refusal to attend the Ayodhya Ram temple inauguration and criticism of businessmen who contributed to the growth of the country.

"The Congress was never like this," he said, pointing out the party once brought in liberalisation and stood for the country's economic growth.

Turning away from the temple was also big mistake, he said. "When the faith and emotions of millions are involved, one should not ignore it," he added. "You could have skipped the inauguration, but could have easily visited another day,' he said.

While Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had turned down the invite for the temple inauguration, the party had not banned the visit for any leader. But most took their cue from them, and barring a handful of leaders from Uttar Pradesh, few have visited the temple.

Asked how could the Congress lie clash, since Rahul Gandhi is in the habit of visiting temples, Mr Gupta said Rahul Gandhi listens to his advisors. "But one should also pick the right advisors... A man who never contested elections, how can he give the right advice? He does not know the grassroot issues," he said.

Asked what he intended to do about the tweets that berated the BJP, whether he would delete on not, he said, "I'm not ashamed of my past. I have worked faithfully for a party for 15 years. But I don't think the party is happy any more about my vision or mission and now I'm trying to change gracefully".

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