Dehradun: BJP veteran and former Uttarakhand chief minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri's son Manish Khanduri has resigned from the primary membership of the Congress.
'I am resigning from primary membership of the Indian National Congress, and all associated positions. I have taken this decision without anticipation or expectation of any personal gain,' Manish said announcing his resignation from the party in a Facebook post.
Manish had joined the Congress in 2019.
The party fielded him from the Garhwal (Pauri) Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 general elections in which he was defeated by Tirath Singh Rawat of the BJP by more than three lakh votes.
Soon after Manish announced his resignation, state BJP president and newly elected Rajya Sabha member Mahendra Bhatt said, 'Every one is quitting the Congress. We have requested him to make his way to the BJP. If he comes, we will welcome him into the party.'
State Congress president Karan Mahara said he came to know about Manish's resignation through social media.
He had not received any formal letter of resignation from him, Mahara said adding that he tried to reach out to him on phone but could not.
"The party gave him full respect. It also gave him a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls in 2019. Many things happen. Some times there is family pressure too. His father is a senior BJP leader and sister (Ritu Khanduri) also in the party who is the Speaker of the Uttarakhand Assembly at present," he said.
"But the exact cause of his resignation can be found out only when I talk to him," the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president said.
Published 08 March 2024, 14:18 IST