Pressure from Sangh Pariwar and senior ministers forced Akbar’s resignation

New Delhi, Oct 17: It is not just the #MeToo campaign in social media but pressure from within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Sangh Pariwar and some important government functionaries have forced Union minister of state for external affairs M J Akbar to resign from the post of minister from the Narendra Modi government. The BJP leadership including some ministers in the government were vertically divided while majority of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leaders wanted him to go.

Sources in the government said that since the matter was becoming untenable for the government however it won't have any political implication still it was putting moral pressure on the government. So Akbar being part of the government found it better to resign for the sake of the party and the government. The government does not want any blot on its image so he resigned.

Sources said that earlier the BJP leadership was not in favour of removing him from the post as it might send a wrong signal during the time of elections in five states but the message started traveling in the wrong direction. Sources said that consultation continued in the government and even National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Dobhal also met him with certain instructions.

This is to recall that Akbar was brought in to the Modi ministry with a specific plan to have good diplomatic relations with the gulf countries. Sources in the RSS said that there was also an utter failure on that count and there is no utility of Akbar in the Lok Sabha elections. But the RSS was not ready to compromise on this issue at any cost and putting pressure on the government.

So it was pressure from the RSS that made his continuity impossible. Most of the women leaders in the BJP and senior RSS functionaries including Dattatreya Hosabale and many other were in favor of his resignation. They communicated their displeasure to the government in no uncertain terms. But as it was being said that he would put in his papers on his own capacity he won't be sacked at all.

So Union minister of state external affairs M J Akbar writes, "Since I have decided to seek justice in a court of law in my personal capacity, I deemed it appropriate to step down from office and challenge false accusations leveled against me, also in a personal capacity. I have, therefore, tendered my resignation from the office of minister of state for external affairs."

He said, "I am deeply grateful to the Prime minister Narendra Modi and to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj for the opportunity they gave me to serve my country."