CR Kesavan, Great-Grandson Of C Rajagopalachari, Quits Congress

CR Kesavan, great-grandson of India's first Indian-born Governor-General, C Rajagopalachari, resigned from the Congress party on Thursday, saying that he has not seen any vestiges of the values that made him work for the party with dedication for over two decades.

In a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Kesavan shared his resignation letter on Twitter and said that he can no longer concur with "what the party symbolizes, stands for nor seeks to propagate".

"I have not seen any vestiges of the values that made me work for the Party with dedication for over two decades. I can no longer in good conscience say that I concur with what the Party presently symbolizes, stands for nor seeks to propagate. This is why I had recently declined an organizational responsibility at the National Level and also refrained from participating in the Bharat Jodo Yatra," he said.

Kesavan said that it is time for him to take a new path, however, added that he has not spoken to anybody so far and does not know "what will unfold next".

"It is time for me to chart a new path and therefore I resign from the Primary Membership of the Congress Party with immediate effect. I have also submitted to the appropriate authority my resignation as a Trustee of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee Charitable Trust. There will be speculation of me going to another Party but to set the record straight, I have not spoken to anybody and honestly do not know what will unfold next," he said.

The former Congress leader also thanked Sonia Gandhi for responsibilities and said that he has forged cherished friendships in the party that will remain.

"I will endeavour in good faith to resolutely serve our country through a political platform. It will be one where I can continue to steadfastly uphold the integrity and ideals of public life, instilled and defended by the founding fathers & mothers of our great nation and my great-grandfather C Rajagopalachari. Jai Hind!," Kesavan said.

Speaking to ANI, he said, "Any Opposition political party should have a well-defined narrative and message for the people. They should ideally take up people-centric issues. But unfortunately, over a period of time, I felt that the attitude and approach has hardly even been concrete, cogent, coherent or even consistent. Many-a-time, it has been very reactionary, cynical and unfortunate."

"I have been a member of the Congress party for last 22 years, but unfortunately over a period of time, I feel in INC, the attitude and approach were neither constructive nor concrete. The values which I worked for, had changed," he added.

Refusing to comment further on Congress, he said,"I don't think I should comment about Congress once I've left the party. I am not comfortable with the way the politics was done in the Congress party and the right thing is to leave the party and that's what I did today".

His resignation comes within a month of the resignation by AK Antony's son, Anil Antony who parted ways from the party after criticising the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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