New Delhi: Veteran politician and former law minister Ashwani Kumar on Tuesday resigned from the Congress.
Ashwani Kumar had served as a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha representing the state of Punjab. He formerly served as Union Minister of Law and Justice and Union Minister of State in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Ministry of Commerce and Industry during the UPA-1 and UPA-II.
Sending his resignation to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Kumar said he could best serve national interests outside the Congress fold. In his resignation letter, a former union minister said
“Having given my thoughtful consideration to the matter, I have concluded that in the present circumstances and consistent with my dignity, I can best serve larger national causes outside the party fold. I am accordingly quitting the party after a long association of 46 years and hope to proactively pursue public causes inspired by the idea of transformative leadership, based on the dignitarian promise of a liberal democracy envisioned by our freedom fighters,”
Ashwani Kumar claimed “lack of leadership” in the Congress party and also blamed the grand old party for failing to reinvent itself.
Kumar also criticised the ill-treatment of former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and called it against the principles of Congress.
The senior Congress leader’s resignation comes just ahead of the Punjab Assembly election.
