In a blow to the Congress just months before the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, two senior All India Congress Committee (AICC) members from the state have resigned from the party's primary membership, alleging that old and loyal leaders are being neglected.
Shailendra Singh and Rajesh Singh sent their resignation letters to the party's Uttar Pradesh unit president Ajay Kumar Lallu on Sunday. The two leaders said they had informed Congress president Sonia Gandhi as well as Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra about their decision.
The resignations come following several high-profile exits including that of former union minister Jitin Prasada, and deal a fresh blow to the grand old party which has been trying to regain lost ground in the politically key state.
Targeting the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president, Shailendra Singh told journalists on Monday that loyal and old time Congresspersons have been neglected since Mr Lallu took over and this is why dedicated leaders are quitting the party.
He said he had informed AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi about the situation in the party many times, but she did not take any step. In such a situation, he was left with no option but to resign from the Congress, he added.
Shailendra Singh said, in his resignation letter, that he has been active in public service and Congress organisation for the last 15 years. He is presently joint in-charge (organisation) of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee and a nominated member of the AICC.
Rajesh Singh said he had been an active member of the Congress since his student days and had held various positions in the NSUI, Youth Congress and Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee for the last 25 years.
He said in his letter that he was also elected a member of the AICC but was resigning because of the present environment of the Congress and the neglect of old Congress members.
Terming the allegations of the two leaders baseless, Congress state secretary and Allahabad in-charge Raghavendra Pratap Singh said work was being done to strengthen the Congress, right down to the "nyay panchayat" and booth level, under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi and Mr Lallu.
Ballia district president of the party Om Prakash Pandey said both were having some dispute with the state leadership.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi has been working overtime to galvanise the party to make it battle-ready for the 2022 assembly polls, but resignations by leaders augur bad for the party that ruled UP for a long time after Independence.
Mr Prasada, a prominent Brahmin face who was considered close to the central party leaders, had resigned and joined the BJP.
Earlier too, former UPCC president Rita Bahugua Joshi had quit the party and went on to become a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government and later BJP MP from Prayagraj.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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