Sunil Jakhar, former chief of Congress' Punjab unit, quit the party today
Sunil Jakhar, former chief of Congress' Punjab unit, quit the party today. Mr Jakhar's resignation comes at a time when the Congress leadership is meeting in Udaipur in a desperate attempt to put its house in order to take on the BJP.
During the Facebook live, Mr Jakhar took potshots at the Congress leadership and questioned why the people like Sachin Pilot, who had revolted against the party, were invited to the Shivir.
Sachin Pilot had last year revolted against the leadership of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot demanding a top role for himself in the state government. Rejecting his demand, the Congress leadership had sacked him from all party posts.
Addressing Mr Gehlot, Mr Jakhar said, "Some people who went to Manesar, camped there for a month to revolt against your government... Should a notice not be sent to those people. Why was a notice not sent to these people"
Last month, the Congress' disciplinary panel had recommended that Mr Jakhar be suspended from the party for two years and removed from all posts.
Mr Jakhar also wondered why he was sent a show-cause notice when he does not hold a post in the party.
"I don't hold any post (in the party); I have an ideology. I want to ask Sonia Gandhi that being Congress president, doesn't she know that I hold no position in the party? Then why a show-cause notice is being given to me?" he asked.
On April 11, Congress leaders KV Thomas and Sunil Jakhar were issued show-cause notices for breaching party discipline and were asked to reply within a week. However, Mr Jakhar did not respond to the notice.
Reacting to Mr Jakhar's comments, former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat said that the leader should have aired his grievances with the party president.
"Congress has given Sunil Jakhar a lot. If there were party decisions that he did not agree with, he should have discussed it with the party president," Mr Rawat told NDTV.
Mr Rawat also said that the Rajasthan rebellion and notice to Sunil Jakhar cannot be compared as circumstances were different.