PATNA: Former state president Anil Sharma resigned from the Congress on Sunday, irked at the party’s alliance with Lalu Prasad’s RJD. Sharma, who had been associated with the party for the past 39 years alleged “opportunism and compromises” dominate the party, and claimed around 70 percent of population in the state was against the Congress-RJD tie-up and won’t support this alliance in the continuing
Lok Sabha polls
.
“I am very much fed up with the working style of the party since opportunism reigns supreme while the
party leadership
has weakened. I don’t see any future of the Congress in coming years,” Sharma told a Press conference here on Sunday. Stating that the Congress’ alliance with the RJD could prove disastrous, he said everyone’s aware of the working style of Lalu, and his son
Tejashwi Prasad Yadav
too can’t be any more different.
Claiming the
Congress-RJD alliance
enjoys the support of a maximum 25-30 per cent population, Sharma claimed the remaining 65-70 per cent population in the state is against the present alliance and they won’t vote for them. He also mocked senior party leader
Rahul Gandhi
for reneging from his earlier promise of not inducting leaders with shady characters in an oblique reference to the recent induction of former MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav.
“During my earlier tenure, I never allowed his (Yadav’s) entry into the Congress but recently he was inducted with much fanfare,” he said, alleging,
“AICC ke manch par mahimamandit kiya gaya.”
“Now, it appears the Congress’ priority is Pappu Yadav-type leaders. It doesn’t want workers like us,” he said with utter disgust.
Reacting to his resignation, state Congress media cell chairman Rajesh Rathore slammed Sharma for trying to make “a cowardly escape” and find “an excuse for falling at the feet of Narendra Modi” and wondered how the person who opposes the entry of Yadav had once opened the party’s gates for muscle-flexing leaders.
“During the 2009 LS elections, Sharma ignored the loyal party workers to hand over party tickets to dozens of bahubalis. Now he is making allegations towards senior party leaders,” Rathore said.
Rathore also said Sharma was the first leader from the Congress who was made the party president despite him not being a member of any house. “He got only 3,700 votes during the assembly elections held in 2000,” he said.
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