A day after former Law Minister and Congress leader Ashwani Kumar resigned from the party, Congress leader Manish Tewari on Wednesday termed it “very unfortunate”.
“If anyone quits the Congress party, it’s a loss to the party. Mr. Ashwani Kumar was Congress MP from Punjab, he was a senior Minister, was our colleague, and if he has left it’s very unfortunate. But at the same time let me tell you that aspiration for Rajya Sabha seat makes a person do several things,” he said in Ludhiana.
Mr. Kumar, in a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, had stated that he would “proactively pursue public causes inspired by the idea of transformative leadership”.
“I have concluded that in the present circumstances, and consistent with my dignity, I can best subserve larger national causes outside the party-fold,” he wrote.
Party sources in the Punjab Congress, however, claimed that Mr. Kumar was upset at being ignored by the State leadership, one of the issues being a request for his son to contest the Assembly elections on party ticket.
