The Congress on Saturday suffered a setback as former chief of Haryana unit Ashok Tanwar resigned from the primary membership ahead of the October 21 Assembly polls after alleging “conspiracy to eliminate all leaders groomed by Rahul Gandhi”.
Announcing his resignation on Twitter, the former Congress leader posted his four-page resignation letter addressed to party president Sonia Gandhi in which he alleged that the “Congress is going through existential crises, not because of its political opponents but because of serious internal contradiction”.
“I, after several months of consideration, tender my resignation from the primary membership of the Congress party, which I nurtured from my sweat and blood. My fight is not personal but against the system which is destroying the grand old party,” the letter said.
“In the last few years, numerous conspiracies are being hatched to eliminate all those young leaders who have been groomed by Shri Rahul Gandhi in the last one and half decade. Unfortunately, most victims of this conspiracy may not have the courage to stand up, but I think it is my moral duty to resist, oppose and expose this onslaught.”
Mr. Tanwar was upset after being replaced by Kumari Selja and being denied ticket to contest the Assembly polls. On Wednesday, he had openly protested outside the Congress chief’s 10 Janpath residence here, alleging irregularities and corruption in ticket distribution.
But his letter has brought to the fore again the divide between the older generation of leaders and the younger lot seen to be close to former party chief Rahul Gandhi.
Similar charges were levelled by former Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam, former Jharkhand chief Ajay Kumar who joined the Aam Admi Party (AAP), former Tripura chief Pradyot Dev Burman who stepped down from his party post and cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu who resigned as a Minister after a tiff with the Punjab Chief Minister.
The party, however, played down the conspiracy charges and advised leaders to exercise restraint.
Asked about the comments by Mr. Nirupam and Mr. Tanwar, former Union Minister Manish Tewari said on Friday party colleagues should “not resort to kite flying by floating conspiracy theories”.
Sources told The Hindu that instead of focussing on inner-party squabbles, the Congress is keen on taking on Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar government with targeted campaigns. After launching Pehle Report Phir Vote (First Report Then Vote) where the Opposition party had asked the government to present its five-year report card, the party has launched the Khattara Sarkar (rickety government) campaign as a pun.
“With consistent deceptions & lies, Khattar Govt has shown Haryana that it must do away with #KhattaraSarkar to progress & leave misrule in the past!” tweeted Ms. Selja on Saturday.