Kamal Nath is not quitting party, BJP running malicious campaign: Cong

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday rubbished reports of senior leader Kamal Nath quitting the party and accused the BJP of "spreading such rumours, malicious, negative insinuations and canards".

"The BJP is running a malicious, ugly whispering campaign to malign the seniormost Congress leaders... We completely reject any such malicious and negative insinuation that the BJP is spreading," Congress in-charge of the communications department Randeep Surjewala told reporters in New Delhi.

Asked about reports of Nath quitting the party, he said, "Instead of spreading such canards, the BJP should answer to the people of Delhi about corruption in the three civic bodies over the last 10 years."

Surjewala said the BJP had perhaps forgotten that Nath was not only the seniormost parliamentarian and one of the most experienced Congress leaders, but he was also the architect behind the re-crafting of the party's strategy and narrative during challenging times.

Whether it was 1977 to 1980, post-1989 to 2004 or as part of the government, Nath continued to serve the party as a worker, leader and the general secretary, he added.

On others quitting the party, the Congress leader said, "The mettle of a leader or a person committed to a political party is tested not when the party is in power but during challenging times.

"In today's challenging times, those friends who have left the party can find the best place for them in the BJP as that party is very prone to attracting defectors nowadays, who are bereft of any ideology, direction or commitment to their own party, which is like the second mother to any political person."