Gourav Vallabh joins BJP hours after quitting Congress: Congress national spokesperson Gourav Vallabh on Thursday joined the BJP hours after quitting the Congress party, in a major blow to the party ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha polls.
Professor Gourav Vallabh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday, hours after resigning from all his posts and Congress party membership. Mentioning the reason for his departure, he said he could not “make anti-Sanatan slogans every day or insult the creator of wealth.”
Gourav Vallabh joins BJP hours after quitting Congress
Vallabh shared his resignation letter to National Congress president Mallikarjun Kharga on Twitter/X.
कांग्रेस पार्टी आज जिस प्रकार से दिशाहीन होकर आगे बढ़ रही है,उसमें मैं ख़ुद को सहज महसूस नहीं कर पा रहा.मैं ना तो सनातन विरोधी नारे लगा सकता हूं और ना ही सुबह-शाम देश के वेल्थ क्रिएटर्स को गाली दे सकता.इसलिए मैं कांग्रेस पार्टी के सभी पदों व प्राथमिक सदस्यता से इस्तीफ़ा दे रहाहूं pic.twitter.com/Xp9nFO80I6
— Prof. Gourav Vallabh (@GouravVallabh) April 4, 2024
“I can neither raise anti-Sanatan slogans nor abuse the wealth creators of the country in the morning and evening. That is why I am resigning from all posts and primary membership of the Congress Party” Vallabh said.
Vallabh, the party’s chief spokesperson, has not appeared on television programs on behalf of the Congress for months and has not held a press conference for a long time.
When I joined Congress, I believed that Congress was the oldest party in the country which respects youth and intellectual people and their ideas. But for some time, I felt that the party was not able to adjust with the youth having new ideas.” he said in his resignation letter.
Vallabh argued that the Congress was completely out of touch and unable to understand the aspirations of the new India. As a result, the party lagged in rising to power and playing a strong opposition role.
The former Congress leader and finance professor also expressed displeasure over the absence of major parties from the Ayodhya Ram temple inauguration ceremony.
Reacting to Vallabh’s resignation, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said, “Seven years ago, I said that Congress is not a party but a family business. Not concerned about national and social welfare, only family welfare… Whether it is the Indian Army or the Hindu community in the country, the Congress party always insults them.
Who is Gourav Vallabh?
The former Congress president, a professor of economics at the Xavier School of Management (XLRI), Jamshedpur, is perhaps best known for his spat with BJP media panel member Sambit Patra in
Discussing the Modi government’s claim that India will become a $5 trillion economy by 2024, Vallabh laughed off the idea and asked the BJP spokesperson how many zeros are there in one trillion which shocked Patra. As the character tries to avoid the conversation, he starts telling the number of zeros in the billions, millions, and trillions. A video of the altercation later went viral on social media, catching Vallabh’s attention.
The 47-year-old, who has a Ph.D. in credit risk assessment, is a certified financial risk manager, chartered accountant (ICAI), and company secretary. He also holds a law degree and a master’s degree in commerce, according to XLRI.
He had started his association with the Indian National Congress in 2017 and in 2018, Randeep Surjewala caught sight of him and asked him to represent the party in the televised debates.
In 2022, Vallabh criticized Shashi Tharoor, saying his “single major contribution” to the party was sending a letter to Sonia Gandhi during her hospitalization.
He contested the 2023 Rajasthan Assembly elections from the Udaipur constituency. However, the BJP candidate won comfortably by a margin of 32,000 votes.
Gourav Vallabh made his election debut in 2019 from Jamshedpur East in Jharkhand, where he finished third behind then-Chief Minister Raghubar Das and Sarayu Rai with over 18,000 votes.
