Hisar / Former Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar quits party ahead of state polls

Former Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar on Saturday resigned from the primary membership of the party, two days after he quit party’s election committees and accused his political rivals of “selling tickets” for the upcoming state polls.

“After long deliberations with party workers and for reasons well known to all Congressman and public, I hereby resign from the primary membership of the @INCIndia,” tweeted Tanwar.

In his four-page resignation letter addressed to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Tanwar said, “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.

Tanwar had protested outside Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s house in New Delhi on Wednesday over the distribution of tickets for the Haryana assembly elections.

Launching a veiled attack at former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Tanwar on Thursday wrote a two-page letter to Sonia Gandhi, listing his grievances and alleging that a section of party leaders in Haryana attacked him and “sabotaged” the Congress when he was the state chief.

Tanwar was ousted as Haryana’s Congress chief last month and replaced by former Union minister Kumari Selja. His replacement had been a key demand of Rohtak strongman Hooda who was also appointed chairperson of the party’s election management committee. But the Congress’ effort to contain the infighting in the Haryana unit only deepened the cracks in the faction-ridden unit in Haryana.

Polling for the 90 assembly seats in Haryana will be held on October 21 and the results will be declared on October 24.