SRINAGAR: In a setback to Congress, senior party leader Vikramaditya Singh, who is son of veteran Congress leader Karan Singh and grandson of last Dogra ruler of Jammu & Kashmir Maharaja Hari Singh, on Tuesday resigned from the Congress saying the party is disconnected with the ground realities and unable to reflect sentiments and aspirations of J&K people.
In his resignation letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Singh said, "It is my belief that the Congress is unable to realise and reflect the sentiments and aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir." He also tweeted the copy of his resignation letter.
Singh, who had unsuccessfully contested against senior BJP leader and Union minister Jitendra Singh from Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat in 2019 parliamentary elections, said his position on critical issues vis-à-vis Jammu & Kashmir, which reflect national interests, do not align with that of the Congress party.
Singh's resignation comes as a big jolt to the Congress as he was a prominent face of the party in Jammu region.
He is weighing his political options and there is a possibility that he may join the BJP. He was among the first Congress leaders in Jammu to welcome the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A. His younger brother Ajatshatru Singh is a senior BJP leader in J&K.
Singh had joined the Congress in 2018. In October 2017, he had resigned from PDP and as MLC over differences with the party after the Mehbooba Mufti government did not declare a government holiday on the birthday of his grandfather (the last Maharaja of J&K).