Congress star face Urmila Matondkar quits party

Mumbai, Sep 10: Actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar on Tuesday said she has resigned from the Congress party, which she joined in March this year. Urmila cited 'petty in-house politics' in the Congress as a reason for her quitting the party.

'My political and social sensibilities refuse to allow vested interests in the party to use me as a mean to fight petty in-house politics instead of working on a bigger goal in Mumbai Congress,' she said in a letter.

Urmila Matondkar started her career in Bollywood as a child artiste. She came to prominence with her role in Shekhar Kapoor's 1983 movie 'Masoom'. Urmila won the Filmfare best actress award in 1995 for Ram Gopal Verma's 'Rangeela'.

Urmila Matondkar was last seen in a special appearance for Abhinay Deo's 'Blackmail' in 2018.

Hours within Urmila Matondkar announcing that she was quitting the Congress due to infighting within the city unit, party leader Milind Deora took potshots at his rival Sanjay Nirupam. Mumbai North leaders must be held accountable, the former MP said.

"After Urmila decided to fight the Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North, I supported her campaign wholeheartedly as (then) Mumbai Congress president," Deora tweeted. "I stood by her when she was let down by those who brought her into the party. I fully agree that Mumbai North leaders must be held accountable," he added.