'Plot to eliminate those groomed by Rahul': Ashok Tanwar quits Congress ahead of Haryana polls

Chandigarh, Oct 05: In a jolt to the Congress ahead of assembly election in the state, former Haryana party chief Ashok Tanwar quit from the primary membership of the party.

"After long deliberations with party workers and for reasons well known to all Congressman and public, I hereby resign from the primary membership of the @INCIndia," Ashok Tanwar tweeted.

"Congress is going through existential crises, not because of its political opponents but because of serious internal contradiction," he said in letter to Sonia Gandhi.

"I after several months of consideration tender my resignation from the primary membership of the Congress party, which I nurtured from my sweat and blood. My fight is not personal but against the system which is destroying the grand old party," the letter said.

"Numerous controversies are being hatched to eliminate those young leaders who have been groomed by Rahul Gandhi" and called Haryana the "epitome" of such controversies," Tanwar noted while detailing his experience with the Congress since he was 17 years old.

"Senior leaders such as Ghulam Nabi Azad and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, saying the "decision makers at AICC can't win an election themselves, while the soldiers on ground are neglected," he said.

Tanwar was replaced by Kumari Selja as the party's state unit chief and his bete noire Bhupinder Singh Hooda was made the Congress Legislature Party leader, after exerting pressure on the central leadership.

In spite of the Congress fielding his son Chiranjeev Rao from Rewari, former minister Ajay Singh Yadav, is unhappy.