LUCKNOW: While the Congress party is not yet over with the wranglings in Punjab even after removing Capt Amrinder Singh from the post of Chief Minister, the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit suffered a big jolt ahead of the 2022 assembly elections when Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, the scion of one of the oldest loyalist families, severed his ties with it on Thursday.
Former Mirzapur MLA Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, great-grandson of late Kamla Pati Tripathi, former UP chief minister, announced that he was quitting the Congress as he was feeling helpless and disillusioned for the party was side-lining and neglecting the dedicated and loyal workers.
Addressing the media persons, Lalitesh, who was Congress’s face in eastern Uttar Pradesh, said that he had decided to leave the party because he felt helpless at the prevailing state of affairs. However, in the same vein, he extended gratitude to Gandhi siblings – Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – for giving him the opportunity to serve the party.
The former MLA, who is the second prominent Brahmin leader to leave Congress after Jitin Prasada who joined the BJP, said that he had yet to decide his future course of action but would continue to work for the poor and the marginalized sections of society.
As per the sources, Lalitesh Pati, had, in fact, had resigned a few days ago as UPCC vice president with the speculation about his quitting the party rife. The sources also confirmed that Lalitesh had been keeping frustrated with the alleged ‘insulting’ behaviour of current UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu.
The family of late Kamla Pati Tripathi has been one of the pillars and one of the most respected clans serving the Congress for decades, particularly in Uttar Pradesh.
Lalitesh is the third senior and important Congress leader to have quit the party in recent months due to the alleged high-handedness of the party leadership in UP. Earlier, former MP Annu Tandon and then Jitin Prasad had quit the Congress.