Former Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh on Thursday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after leaving the grand old party. Vallabh joined the BJP at the party's headquarters in Delhi.
Vallabh quit the Congress over his differences with the party's stance over remarks against Sanatana Dharma, Ayodhya Ram Mandir pran pratishtha and his discomfort with the overall working of the Congress party in the recent past.
In a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Vallabh called the grand old party 'directionless' and said that he cannot raise 'anti-Sanatan slogans'. He also said that backing the caste census and the party's stand on Ram Mandir in Ayodhya made him uncomfortable.
"These days, the party is moving in the wrong direction. On one hand, we talk about the caste-based census and on the other hand, the party seems to oppose the entire Hindu society. This style of working gives a misleading message to the public that the party is a supporter of a particular religion only. This is against the basic principles of Congress," he said.
The newly minted BJP leader told news agency ANI that he was irked by the Congress' silence when popular leaders in the INDIA alliance made offensive remarks about the Sanatana Dharma. He added that he also opposed the party's stand on Ram Mandir pran pratishtha publicly.
"I wrote to Mallikarjun Kharge, voicing my misgivings and emotions. I was hurt by my party's silence when some prominent leaders in the INDIA bloc made unsaoury remarks against Sanatan. I also publicly opposed our party's stand on Ram Mandir (the pran pratishtha of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya)," Vallabh said.
He also attacked the grand old party over its stance vis-a-vis wealth creators and economic policies.
"When I joined the party, my only aim was to use my ability and capability in economic matters in the interest of the country. We may not be in power, but we could have presented the party's economic policy-making in the national interest in a better way in our manifesto and elsewhere. But, this effort was not made at the party level," he said in his letter to Kharge.
Senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, have made stinging remarks against industrialists like Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani. Gandhi has also alleged time and again that PM Narendra Modi has granted them undue favours.