A day after Ghulam Nabi Azad blamed the Congress top leadership for the party's successive poll debacles particularly targeting Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Saturday dubbed it as "targeted personal vilification" of the former party chief and said it was wrong to hold one individual responsible for the electoral losses.
Pilot also said the timing of Azad's letter was "very unfortunate", when the party was preparing to take on the "misgovernance" of the BJP government, and the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister had not fulfilled his responsibility.
"He (Azad) held various posts for over 50 years and now, when there is a need for the country and the party to raise people's issues, this was uncalled for," said Pilot.
Asked about Azad's statement blaming Rahul Gandhi's action of tearing up a government ordinance in "full glare" of the media for the loss of the Congress in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Pilot said it was wrong to pin the blame on individuals.
"All of us in the Congress were associated with and part of the UPA government, including Mr Azad. So singling out a person for the defeat in 2014 would not be right," he said.
In his resignation letter, Azad brought up Rahul Gandhi tearing up a government ordinance during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) rule and described it as "one of the most glaring examples of immaturity".
Pilot said there was "targeted personal vilification" of Rahul Gandhi in Azad's letter.
The former Rajasthan deputy chief minister had spoken out against the criticism of the top Congress leadership in Azad's resignation letter on Friday as well and questioned its timing.