Vishwanath ends 40-year ties with Cong

Senior Congress leader and former MP A H Vishwanath on Friday formally quit the Congress by submitting his resignation letter to state Congress president G Parameshwara.

Parameshwara later told reporters that Vishwanath is a senior leader and that he had tried to convince him not to quit the party. His resignation letter will be forwarded to the party high command, he added.

Earlier, participating in an interaction with reporters, Vishwanath hit out at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

“Karnataka does not have Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi Congress. The high command has become weak. Congress-S (Siddaramaiah) is in power. Senior leaders such as Mallikarjun Kharge and Oscar Fernandes are not speaking up. Those who are analysing the party affairs, including myself, are looked upon as enemies,” he stated. 

Vishwanath said he was associated with the Congress for nearly 40 years. But, nobody sought to know from him why he is quitting the party. Nobody tried to convince him to stay back in the party. All senior leaders have culturally and intellectually become bankrupt, he added.

The Congress has been taken over by migrants from other parties. “Siddaramaiah will enjoy power and go, but the future of the party is a matter of concern. I apprised K C Venugopal of all these issues. But, he suggested that Siddaramaiah and I sort out all issues amicably,” he said.

When asked about his next course of action in politics, he said he is not a party hopper and that he would take an appropriate decision after touring the state.

He became emotional as he read out his resignation letter to the reporters.