GG News Bureau
Chandigarh, 17th Oct. Senior Congress leader and former minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav announced his resignation from the Congress on Thursday, citing dissatisfaction with the party’s leadership following Sonia Gandhi’s departure as president. Yadav, who also stepped down as chairman of the All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) Other Backward Classes (OBC) department, expressed his discontent with the party’s treatment of him.
In his resignation, the 65-year-old leader highlighted his dissatisfaction with the Congress high command, which he believes sidelined him after Sonia Gandhi stepped down. “I have sent my resignation letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge ji from Chairman AICC OBC Department and also from primary membership of Indian National Congress party @kharge @RahulGandhi @SoniaGandhiiINC,” Yadav posted on X (formerly Twitter).
He further explained that his decision to resign was particularly challenging given his family’s deep-rooted ties with the party. “This decision of resigning was really hard… my family had a 70-year association as my father, late Rao Abhey Singh, became MLA in 1952 and thereafter I continued with the family tradition,” Yadav stated.
Yadav’s departure marks the third high-profile exit from the Congress in recent years, following the resignations of Kuldeep Bishnoi and Kiran Choudhry, both of whom later joined the BJP. Yadav, a vocal critic of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had recently raised concerns about internal conflicts within the Haryana Congress unit ahead of the state assembly polls.
Yadav openly criticized the party’s infighting over the chief ministerial position before the elections, calling it a “big blunder” that contributed to the party’s loss. He further pointed out the Congress’ failure in southern Haryana, particularly in districts like Gurugram, Rewari, Mahendragarh, and Faridabad, where the party won only one seat compared to the BJP’s ten. His son, Chiranjeev Rao, was among the Congress candidates who lost in the Rewari constituency.
In his recent remarks, Yadav also highlighted the lack of representation for the Ahirwal region in key Congress bodies, such as the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and the Central Election Committee (CEC), as well as in the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC). He also expressed dissatisfaction with the selection of several candidates for the Haryana polls and described his role as AICC OBC department chairman as “an eyewash and toothless.”
Meanwhile, the BJP, which recently secured a third consecutive term in Haryana, has used Yadav’s resignation to launch an attack on the Congress. BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused the Congress of being “anti-OBC and anti-Dalit,” demanding that Rahul Gandhi address the alleged “insult” to Yadav during the Haryana assembly elections. Poonawalla referenced Yadav’s criticism of the Congress’ performance in southern Haryana, underscoring the BJP’s claim of internal discord within its rival party.
Yadav’s strained relationship with Bhupinder Singh Hooda has been well-documented, with the two leaders frequently clashing during Hooda’s tenure as Chief Minister. Despite these differences, Yadav’s departure from the Congress signals a deepening crisis for the party as it grapples with leadership challenges and internal discord following its defeat in the Haryana elections.
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