Ahead of Haryana elections, former Congress state chief Ashok Tanwar quits party
"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 Congress," Ashok Tanwar announced on Twitter.
Ashok Tanwar speaks to the media in New Delhi on Thursday. (Express photo by Anil Sharma)
With just a fortnight left in the Haryana assembly polls, the Congress received a major blow as its former state chief Ashok Tanwar resigned from the primary membership of the party.
Ending his nearly three-decade-long association with the Congress, Tanwar said that the party has been “plagued by feudal attitudes and medieval conspiracies”. He not only accused former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Haryana incharge Ghulam Nabi Azad of “hatching conspiracies”, but added that “Congressmen who rise from the grassroots and belong to non-political and humble family backgrounds are not valued. Money, blackmail and pressure tactics seem to work at the end.”
Tanwar added, “Today, the Congress is going through an existential crisis, not because of its political opponents but because of serious internal contradictions.”
Levelling serious allegations, Tanwar said, “My experience of last few years has been that democracy in the party is being killed by selfish interests of a few lobbies. Devoted people like me are not allowed to work with full freedom. Obstacles are created every day at every stage to weaken those who are given responsibilities by the high command, only to prove that the party is the personal fiefdom of some rich and powerful individuals. I believe that it is very difficult for anyone with self-respect to work under such circumstances when you aren’t allowed to discharge your duties on the one hand, while on the other hand, you have to take responsibility for all the failures and misdeeds of others”.
Tanwar also called himself as one of the “victims of prejudices that are aimed at defending dynastic politics, which is so deep-rooted and omnipresent in Congress party”. “In the last few years, numerous conspiracies are being hatched to eliminate those young leaders who have been groomed by Rahul Gandhi in the last one and half-decade. Unfortunately, most victims of this conspiracy may not have the courage to stand up, but I think it is my moral and political duty to resist, oppose and expose this onslaught”, Tanwar wrote in his resignation.
He added, “Haryana has been the epitome of this conspiracy to destroy the Congress nurtured by the top leadership. To start with, the process of creating District Congress Committees and Block Congress Committees was stalled for over five years. The Congress was known as the party of all 36 Communities of Haryana, but strange attempts of social engineering by some influential people made Congress lose its credibility as the party of all communities. Within the party, the workers were forced to be divided on the colours of their turbans”.
Accusing Hooda and Ghulam Nabi Azad of playing a major role in selection of candidates for October 21 Vidhan Sabha polls, Tanwar wrote, “Time and again, when these people were creating hurdles and not allowing the organisation to function properly, I had offered to resign several times, but I was asked to hold back by the top leadership. But on September 4, exactly one month ago, I along with the then CLP leader Kiran Choudhry were removed unceremoniously without any recognition of our contribution over this period of 5 years and 8 months. I waited for one complete month expecting justice and fairness in ticket distribution. The true recognition was deserved by the people who worked hard for more than 5 years sacrificing their personal and family lives, time and money with complete dedication. They deserved an opportunity to contest on a Congress ticket, but unfortunately personal allegiances and fixing with Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Ghulam Nabi Azad and others have been the top criteria for selection of candidates in most cases.”
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