Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh quits party ahead of Lok Sabha polls

Congress leader Gourav Vallabh on Thursday resigned from the party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, citing his discomfort with the “directionless way” with which it was moving forward.

Vallabh, who was a party spokesperson, shared his resignation letter on social media and said that he could neither shout “anti-Sanatan slogans” nor “abuse the wealth creators of the country”.

Sanatan or Sanatana Dharma is a term some people use as a synonym for Hinduism.

Vallabh, in his resignation letter addressed to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, said that on one hand, the Congress was demanding a caste census and on the other hand, it “seems to oppose the entire Hindu society”.

“This style of working gives a misleading message to the public that the party is a supporter of a particular religion only,” he said in the letter. “This is against the basic principles of Congress.”

Last year, the Congress had fielded Vallabh from the Udaipur constituency in the Rajasthan Assembly elections. However, he lost to Bharatiya Janata Party’s Tarachand Jain.

The Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.