Just days before Punjab goes to polls, senior Congress leader from the state and former Union cabinet minister Ashwani Kumar today resigned from the party. Kumar, a veteran Congressman, is the first senior UPA cabinet minister to leave the Congress post its debilitating Lok Sabha election defeat in 2019.
In a letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Kumar said, "Having given my thoughtful consideration to the matter, I have concluded that in the present circumstances and consistent with my dignity, I can best subserve larger national causes outside the party-fold."
"I am accordingly quitting the party after a long association of 46 years and hope to proactively pursue public causes inspired by the idea of transformative leadership, based on the dignitarian promise of a liberal democracy envisioned by our freedom fighters," he added.
While speaking to ANI, Kumar said, It was a painful decision. I thought long&hard,& realised the way internal processes of Congress are in place today, I couldn't continue any longer consistent with my dignity&self-esteem. I thought my shoulders weren't strong enough to carry weight of indifference.
The Congress has seen a string of exits by leaders, including its youth faces – among them the likes of Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, R P N Singh. , Sushmita Dev, Priyanka Chaturvedi and Laliteshpati Tripathi – in the last two years. But Kumar’s exit signals that even the old guard is increasingly getting disenchanted with the state of affairs in the party.
Two other veterans — former Goa Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro and former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh — recently parted ways with the party.
