In a major setback for the Congress party, senior leader and former MP PC Chacko resigned from the party on Wednesday.
The resignation of PC Chacko is a big shock for Congress in Kerala as the state goes to the polls on April 6. Chacko has sent his resignation letter to party interim chief Sonia Gandhi saying that it has ‘become difficult to continue in Congress.’
He said, “There is no democracy left in Congress. Candidate list has not been discussed with the state Congress Committee. I have sent my resignation to Sonia Gandhi.”
Chacko was upset over ticket distribution in his home state Kerala which is going to polls on April 6. He alleged that the seats were divided on the basis of factions and blamed the central leadership for failing to lead the party effectively.
He said, “I’d been deliberating upon this decision for past many days. I come from Kerala where there’s no Congress party as such. There are 2 parties – Congress (I) & Congress (A). It’s coordination committee of 2 parties functioning as KPCC.”
The leader further said that people want to bring Congress back to power but ‘groupism’ is a problem. He also said that the central leadership too agreed to the proposals given by the two groups and has done nothing to stop it.
He said, “Kerala is facing a crucial election. People want Congress to come back but there’s groupism practiced by top leaders of Congress. I’ve been arguing with high command that this should be ended. But the high command is also agreeing to the proposal given by both groups.”
“Congress is a great tradition. Being a Congress man is prestigious thing but today in Kerala nobody can be a Congress man. One can belong to either ‘I group’ or ‘A group’. So I decided to call it a day. High Command is mute witness to this disaster and there’s no remedy,” he added.
Chacko is a former Member of Parliament from Thrissur Lok Sabha seat in Kerala. Senior party leader Rahul Gandhi is an MP from the state.
The election for 140-member Kerala Assembly will be held on April 6 and the results will be announced on May 2.