Former Guj Cong chief Arjun resigns, says party losing connection with people

PORBANDAR: In a setback for Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, party leader and its former Gujarat unit chief Arjun Modhwadia resigned from the party and said that the leadership's decision to decline the invitation for Pran Prathistha ceremony at Ayodhya had hurt the sentiments of people. Modhwadia, a former Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat assembly, wrote a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge stating that he is resigning from all party positions.

In a hard-hitting attack, Modhwadia said the party had lost connection with the people. In his letter, Modhwadia hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and accused the party of "insulting Lord Ram by boycotting the Mahotsav in Ayodhya".

He said that he had voiced his dissent when the Congress leadership declined the invitation to the Pran Pratishta event at the grand Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya in January.

"Prabhu Ram is not just pujaniya to Hindus, but he is the Aastha of Bharat. By declining the invitation to witness Pran Pratishtha Mahotsav have hurt the sentiments of the people of India, Congress as a party failed to assess the sentiments of the people," he said.

"Since my dissent, I have met scores of people who were offended by the manner in which the Congress Party insulted Lord Ram by boycotting the Mahotsav in Ayodhya. To further distract and humiliate this pious occasion, Rahul Gandhi attempted to create a ruckus in Assam which further angered our party cadres and citizens of Bharat.

Over and above, since the last few years, I found myself helpless to contribute to the people of my district Porbandar and the state of Gujarat," he said. Modhwadia said that he is leaving the party with a "heavy heart" after being associated with it for over 40 years and "given my entire life for". Modhwadia later told the media that he had tried to convey his message to the party but was not successful.

"When a party loses its connection with the people, it cannot survive for long. The people of the country wanted the Ram Temple to be constructed. The Congress had also decided that after a constitutional verdict from the Supreme Court, we would support it. Even then the invitation to the Pran Pratishtha was declined. I raised my voice then too, that this would hurt the public sentiment and we should not make such political decisions and that decision showed a lack of connection with the people. I tried to convey my message in several other matters, but I was not successful. Finally, I decided to resign today," he said.

While BJP has declared some of its candidates from Gujarat for Lok Sabha polls, Congress is yet to decide its candidates.