Senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat on Wednesday withdrew his resignation and announced he would continue working for the party.
Senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat on Wednesday withdrew his resignation and announced he would continue working for the party.
Mr Kamat, a former Union minister and five times MP from Mumbai north east, had tendered his resignation from the party a fortnight ago, saying he was quitting active politics. However, sources said the party high command did not like Mr Kamat’s decision and told him to take back his resignation. Sources said that the resignation of Mr Kamat, known as a Gandhi loyalist, came as a surprise, especially at a time when the party has been going through its worst political crisis in history. They said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi even refused to meet him and informed him to continue with the party work. “I had about two weeks ago sent my resignation as general secretary, All India Congress Committee, and from the Congress party purely for personal reasons, to concentrate on social service minus any party tag,” he said. “However, during the last fortnight, a large number of senior party leaders tried to convince me to rethink my decision. My meeting with my party president Mrs Gandhi helped me to make up my mind that the Congress party is the best platform to serve the people of this country. I will continue to serve under the leadership of hon’ble Congress president Mrs Gandhi and hon’ble vice-president Rahul Gandhi with the same charge of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu as told to me Tuesday late night. I will be meeting the people of my in-charge states starting Thursday,” he said in a statement.
However, this is not the first time Mr Kamat has been miffed with the party. This time around, his decision to quit was linked with factionalism in the party; he was reportedly unhappy with Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam and AICC general secretary Mohan Prakash for sidelining him in party decisions related to the Mumbai unit. He had expressed his unhappiness on a few occasions and even refused to accept a ministerial berth under the Congress-led UPA government, terming it “low profile”.
