Congress OBC Cell Chairman and former Haryana Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav on Thursday resigned from his position as well as primary membership of the party. Ending seven-decade-old ties of his family with the Congress, Yadav said that he was resigning over the shabby treatment meted out to him after Sonia Gandhi left the post of party president.

"I have sent my resignation letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge ji from Chairman AICC OBC Department and also from primary membership of Indian national congress party @kharge @RahulGandhi @SoniaGandhiiINC," Yadav announced on X. He said the decision of resigning was a hard one.

"It was not easy to part from a party with whom my family had 70 years of association. My father late Rao Abhey Singh became MLA in 1952 and thereafter I continued with family tradition but am disillusioned with the party high command for treating me shabbily after Sonia Gandhi left the post of Congress president," said Yadav.

The resignation follows the crushing defeat Yadav's son Chiranjeev, also the son-in-law of RJD supremo Lalu Yadav, suffered at the hands of BJP's Laxman Singh in Rewari.  Ajay Yadav has represented Rewari five times in the Haryana assembly. Lalu's son Tej Pratap had campaigned for Chiranjeev in the segment but the latter lost by over 28,000 votes. 

Yadav, a known detractor of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda who has dominated the Haryana Congress for the past two decades, has been upset with the party apparatus for some time as he was not considered for the Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat and his supporters were ignored for Assembly seats in Ahirwal region of Haryana where Yadavs and other OBCs have influence.

Haryana Congress veterans, including Yadav and Kumari Selja, a tall SC leader, have long complained of over-dominance of former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a Jat stalwart, in state politics.

After Congress's debacle in the Haryana assembly elections, Yadav was one of the few party leaders who had openly advised it to introspect its failure in the 'Southern Haryana' region. Southern Haryana is often referred to as the Ahirwal region spanning Gurgaon, Rewari and Mahendergarh. BJP continued with its hold over the Ahirwal region — winning 10 of 11 assembly constituencies in the south Haryana districts of Gurgaon, Rewari, and Mahendergarh.