Former Haryana Finance Minister and six-time MLA Sampat Singh on Sunday quit Congress saying the party had become the fief of one person and family and the people of Haryana were now disappointed with both its the State and central leadership.
In a four-page resignation letter posted on his X account, Mr. Singh pointed out that no accountability was fixed for the party’s consecutive defeats since 2009 and no action has been taken against those responsible for the “ticket theft”, alluding at denial of tickets to deserving candidates. The Congress won 67 seats under the leadership of Bhajan Lal in 2005 and the defeats have continued since then, he said.
Mr. Singh had attended the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) rally at Rohtak on September 25 to commemorate the 112th birth anniversary of former Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal and is now expected to join the party soon. In another post on X on October 1, he had raised question over the appointment of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as Congress Legislature Party leader saying “this decision has left the party’s loyal workers disheartened and there is a situation of disbelief among the public”.
Commenting on the party’s unexpected defeat in the last Assembly poll in October, Mr. Singh in his resignation letter said Dalit voters overwhelmingly supported the party in the Lok Sabha poll earlier but the State leadership, driven by arrogance and family interests, marginalised the party’s SC leader Kumari Selja. “Casteist remarks and offensive videos were circulated against her, and her supporters were denied tickets. As a result, the Dalit community boycotted the Congress,” read the letter.
