Senior Congress leader and two-time MlA Umesh Swain on Friday resigned from the party citing factionalism as the main reason. Swain sent his resignation letter to All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi.
“With a heavy heart, I am submitting my resignation from the Congress party after serving it for the last 15 years. I had joined the party when it was in deep crisis and it was unable to find a foothold against the growing popularity of Naveen Patnaik in the State, I went against the tide and won the 2000 and 2004 Assembly elections consecutively from my constituency, Balikuda.”
He added, “I managed to uphold the dignity and respect of the Congress party by being the lone Congress MlA from undivided Cuttack district, which elects 28 members to the Assembly. But I lost the 2009 Assembly elections as my constituency went under delimitation and divided into two parts creating two constituencies. My performance within the Assembly and on the field is well known to the party workers and the people of Odisha.”
Citing factionalism as the main reason behind the resignation, he mentioned, “Over the years, factionalism within the party with vested interest groups have silenced and ignored loyal and sincere leaders by not giving them due importance and thus widened the gap within.
In my view, the central leadership has not been able to address the above problems or seems confused in handling the same due to lack of a transparent vision and goal. As a result, it has proven detrimental to the interest of the party in the last fifteen years. Frequent changes in the leadership have left the party workers and the voters of Odisha in a confused State. Hence, the party seems directionless. Under the above circumstances, I opt to put my resignation as a party worker and disassociate myself from all party activities.”