In a massive development and big blow to the Congress Party, its one of the senior most leader Ghulam Nabi Azad broke his all ties with the grand old party on Friday. Ghulam Nabi Azad resignation came at a time when its prime leadership- Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are under the radar of ED over the National Herald Case. Interestingly, among multiple reasons, Ghulam Nabi Azad in his long resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi outlined Rahul Gandhi's 'childish' ordinance tearing stunt in 2013 and also blamed this particular activity for the Congress' loss in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. Now, Rahul Gandhi ordinance tearing 2013 viral video has resurfaced and people who are searching for it can watch the video below-
In Ghulam Nabi Azad resignation letter, the former Congress leader wrote, "One of the most glaring examples of his (Rahul Gandhi) immaturity was the tearing up of the government ordinance in the full glare of the media.This childish behaviour completely subverted the authority of the government of India and caused the significant defeat of the UPA government in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections."
In the Rahul Gandhi ordinance tearing 2013 viral video, the Congress leader was seen tearing a piece of paper during a rally in . In 2013, Rahul Gandhi had denounced the controversial ordinance brought by the UPA government led by then Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh to negate a Supreme Court verdict on convicted lawmakers. Tearing the ordinance, Rahul had said, "In my personal opinion, the ordinance should be torn and thrown away. It is an utter nonsense."
Furthermore, Rahul had distanced himself from the government saying that he was not a part of the government and that the government was surely wrong in clearing the ordinance."They say that we have to do it because of political considerations. Everybody does this. We need to stop making these small compromises," Rahul had said.
Rahul's tearing of ordinance in 2013 led to party's defeat, undermined PM's authority: Azad
What was the ordinance all about?
On July 10, 2013, the Supreme Court of India held Section 8 (4) of the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951, unconstitutional. The court order said an MP or MLA must be immediately disqualified if convicted by a court in a criminal offence with a jail sentence of two years or more. Section 8 (4) of the RPA protects convicted legislators from disqualification if they appeal before a higher court within three months. This, the apex court said, was unconstitutional.