Bengaluru: The split is wide open in the Congress. The latest Congressman to join the bandwagon of bashing up his own party and openly issuing a mea culpa that the “Congress has lost its way” is former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The issue that he is referring to is obviously the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A in which the Congress response has been scattered. While many Congressmen opposed it, others like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Deepender Hooda and Janardan Dwivedi openly and defiantly supported the BJP on the move to integrate Jammu and Kashmir completely with India.

He said, “When the government does something right, I support it. Many of my colleagues opposed the decision to abrogate Article 370 (of the Constitution)… Our brothers are deployed as soldiers in Kashmir and hence, I support it. I was born in a patriotic family. Those who oppose (abrogation of Article 370), I want to tell them ‘usulon par jahan aanch aaye, vahan takrana zaruri hai. Jo zinda hai to zinda dikhna zaruri hai’ (When it’s about principles and traditions, we should fight for it. What’s alive, must look alive).”

Till recently, the Congress had been a headless chicken with Rahul Gandhi putting in his papers. Though Sonia Gandhi has been made the interim president, the slur of dynasty politics still hangs on.

On the other hand, the BJP, which sees diffidence as the underlining factor in the Congress, says the reality is indeed harsh for the grand old party.

Sreenath Sheshadri, a BJP spokesperson, said, “If the Congress was democratic and had a think-tank, they wouldn’t have opposed the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A. It shows the political immaturity in the party. When a leadership is weak and members know there is nothing new, desertions do happen. There is nothing new in it. The Congress has to face the harsh reality.”