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


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.