Chennai: Voicing a strong revolt against the national high command of the Congress, former union minister Jayanthi Natarajan on Friday resigned from the primary membership of the party. In a strong worded letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi followed by a press conference in Chennai, Jayanthi said that she was pained by the treatment meted out to her by the party.
"Cannot survive in a suffocating environment anymore. I feel that the time has come now for me to rethink my association because what happened in the recent past. The Congress is no longer the Congress that I joined. I hereby resign from the primary membership of the Congress party," Jayanthi said.
Launching a direct attack on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Jayanthi said that all her decisions as the minister of environment were taken by his directives. "Many of my colleagues in Cabinet protested strongly against the decisions. I had to face anger and wrath of Cabinet members many times, but I stood by the decisions I took according to Rahul Gandhi's word as I thought that is based on the party line," she said.
She claimed that her intent as a minister was clear and that she is ready for any probe that is initiated for any decisions that have been taken during her tenure. "I welcome a CBI probe since it will give me a chance to explain. I am for all enquiries," she said.
Recalling the campaign for Lok Sabha elections, Jayanthi said that she was asked to address a press conference and attack the then prime ministerial candidate of the BJP Narendra Modi over the snoopgate case. However, she added that she protested against it as she did not want to raise that issue. "As a minister in UPA-II, I did not want to attack Narendra Modi on snoopgate issue but the party at the highest level wanted me to do so," she said.
"My own party has treated me so badly why should I blame Mr Narendra Modi for any allegations," a deeply hurt Jayanthi said.
Comments
0 comment