In a major setback to the Congress in Kerala, senior leader AV Gopinathan on Monday quit the party even as senior leaders continued to air their opinion in public. His move comes amid an infighting over the selection of 14 new district Congress Committee chiefs in Kerala.
Gopinathan, a former MLA and district Congress committee president of Palakkad, said he lost faith in the party leadership so there is no point in remaining with it.
While announcing the resignation, Gopinathan said, “I have been with the party for almost 50 years. I have lost all hope now. So there is no point in remaining in it."
As per news agency PTI, Gopinathan’s supporters had pressed for his appointment to the post of DCC chief but the leadership selected A Thankappan.
Earlier, Gopinathan was upset on being denied an assembly seat in March elections but he was placated with the promise of a party post.
Gopinathan's resignation comes after senior leaders K Sivadasan Nair and former PCC general secretary AP Anil Kumar were suspended as part of disciplinary action for criticising the party openly. Today, they were served show-cause notices as well.
The resignation is the first following the rejig of the 14 district Congress Committee presidents on August 28. Gopinath represented the Alathur Assembly constituency during the 1991-96 period and later lost.
He was among the probables for the new Palakkad district committee president post, but it was given to another leader.
Gopinath, known for his clean image and demeanour, said he has the highest regards for all the top Congress leaders, but he said he decided to quit because he just cannot any longer continue like this.
Gopinath, in the past, was the Palakkad district Congress Committee president.
