Ex-Union Minister Anand Sharma quits from Steering Committee of Himachal Pradesh Congress

His quitting is not good news for the already faction-ridden Congress where the party hopes to overthrow the Jairam Thakur-led BJP

Days after Ghulam Nabi Azad refused to take up assignment in Jammu and Kashmir, another senior leader Anand Sharma on Sunday resigned as the Chairperson of party's steering committee in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh, saying he was “left with no choice” due to the “continuing exclusion and insults”.

Sharma's resignation five days after Azad refused to head Campaign Committee in Jammu and Kashmir signals the deepening of fissures between the G-23 leaders or change-seekers and the party ahead of Congress president election whose process was to start on Sunday.

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His quitting the panel also is not good news for the already faction-ridden Congress in Himachal Pradesh where the party hopes to overthrow the Jairam Thakur-led BJP government in the Assembly elections later this year.

“I have resigned with a heavy heart from the Chairmanship of the Steering Committee of the Congress for the Himachal Elections. Reiterating that I am a lifelong Congressman and remain firm on my convictions. Committed to Congress ideology that runs in my blood, let there be no doubts about this! However, given the continuing exclusion and insults, as a self-respecting person – I was left with no choice,” Sharma tweeted.

When contacted by DH, Sharma, a Congress Working Committee member and also former Deputy Leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha, refused to provide details of the circumstances of his resignation, saying he would not reveal the content of the letter, as it was a communication he had with party chief Sonia Gandhi.

He was appointed as panel head on April 26 along with Pratibha Singh as state unit chief among others. There were nine panels announced by the Congress committee then.

While assuring that he would campaign for the candidates in the Assembly elections, sources said Sharma told Sonia in his resignation letter that he has been ignored in the consultation process and neither informed nor invited to such meetings.

Sharma is learnt to have highlighted that the multiplicity of committees and overlapping of functions required clarity and requested General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal and state in-charge Rajeev Shukla to delineate the mandate of the steering committee.

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The 69-year-old leader, who entered politics through Congress' students wing NSU(I) and became president of Youth Congress, said there were several meetings of the core group of Himachal Congress and senior leaders on election strategy in Delhi and Shimla. He cited meetings of June 20 and August 7 and 8 where he was not invited.

Both Sharma and Azad were present at Congress headquarters on August 15 when the party celebrated Independence Day.

The relationship between Sharma and the Congress leadership strained in the past two years after he joined the G-23 leaders seeking clarity on the leadership issue. The party did not renominate Sharma, whom Indira Gandhi brought to Rajya Sabha in 1984 or Azad to Rajya Sabha though it chose Gandhi loyalists to ten seats the party could win in the elections two months ago.

The Congress had announced an election schedule after the G-23 leaders stepped up pressure on the leadership issue.