Jaipur, Oct 2 (PTI) Former Rajasthan minister Vishvendra Singh on Friday announced that he was leaving the Congress, two days after launching a sharp attack on party state president Govind Singh Dotasra over the recent urban local body elections.
Singh, a member of the erstwhile Bharatpur royal family, announced his decision in a social media post, saying he was guided by his conscience and was hurt by statements made by some party leaders.
However, there was no immediate confirmation from the Congress on whether Singh had formally submitted his resignation.
“I have always taken decisions in my life by listening to my revered Giriraj Maharaj and my inner voice,” Singh said.
He said statements made by some “petty and so-called leaders” had angered his supporters and left him hurt.
“If speaking the truth and not supporting what is wrong and false are sins, I will commit one every time. I neither do wrong nor tolerate wrong,” he said.
Singh said he had devoted his life to the party but could no longer go ahead along with “wrong policies”.
“Instead of dying of suffocation, it is better to die with self-respect,” Singh said.
The development comes amid a public war of words between Singh and sections of the state Congress. Singh earlier blamed the Congress’s Bharatpur and Deeg district presidents for the party’s performance in the civic polls, alleging that tickets were distributed to favourites while genuine workers were sidelined.
Congress won 3,613 wards out of the total declared wards in the civic body polls, compared to the BJP’s 4,179 wards.
He subsequently targeted Dotasra directly and demanded his resignation, besides seeking an investigation into allegations relating to recruitment examinations and benefits allegedly received by members of the PCC chief’s family.
Dotasra on Thursday rejected suggestions of a rift in the Congress and described reports of differences as part of the BJP’s “toolkit”.
“There is no discord among us. This is the BJP’s toolkit. The BJP spreads propaganda and tries to show that there are differences within the Congress,” Dotasra had said.
Singh is a former Deeg-Kumher MLA in Rajasthan Assembly who served as tourism minister in the previous Ashok Gehlot government. He contested but lost 2023 assembly election. PTI SDA PRK
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