Senior Congress leader and member of Parliament (MP) from Domariyaganj in Uttar Pradesh, Jagadambika Pal, resigned from the Lok Sabha and relinquished his primary membership from the party on Friday.
Pal's exit comes in the wake of speculation about several other Uttar Pradesh Congress leaders being extremely unhappy and gearing up to leave the party. While Pal claimed 'senior' leaders were given short shrift by the "emerging leadership", insiders say the real reason was Pal was not very sure if he would win from a Congress ticket this time.
Rashid Alvi, another senior Congress leader from the state, is also reportedly headed for the exit door. Alvi has already marked his disapproval of the government's Jat quota decision.
There has been much talk of Congress MP from Unnao, Annu Tandon, forsaking the party. While Tandon has denied mulling any such move, it is an open secret that she is miffed with the party leadership. There is still no clarity on Alvi or Tandon's status within the party.
Speaking to reporters, Pal, refuted suggestions of being wary of losing his seat, saying: "The Congress has not come to power in UP since 1989, but I've stayed with the party, defending its policies. When I am leaving the Congress party at the age of 65, it is not because I want to get something. But for some time, I have been having this feeling that there is no longer any need for senior leaders like us in Congress." He quickly added there are many other senior leaders holding the same view.
Much of this quitting spree could have been dismissed as a natural fallout in an election season, but for the fact that the Congress had managed to put on its best performance in the state in the last Lok Sabha elections, winning 22 out of 80 seats.
In order to micro-manage party activities ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had divided the state into 10 zones. However, such exercise does not seem to have made any difference on the ground.
