PALAKKAD: Amidst the churnings within the Congress after the announcement of the district presidents, former MLA A V Gopinath resigned from the primary membership of the party. Gopinath who represented Alathur assembly constituency in the state assembly from 1991-96 had served as Palakkad DCC president from 2007 to 2009. He had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly polls from Palakkad in 2006 and Nenmara in 2016. Gopinath left enough hints that he was not averse to co-operating with the CPM.
Speaking to mediapersons at Peringottukurissy on Monday, Gopinath said that he was ending his 50-year association with the Congress. Gopinath said he was feeling let down by senior Congress leaders which forced him to leave the party.
An emotional Gopinath said that he joined the Congress at the young age of 15 and the party was part of his life all these years. “I always dreamed about being actively involved in the day to day affairs of the Congress. It is in this context that I have been contesting the local body elections so that I have a rapport with the ordinary workers. For the last 43 years, the Peringottukurissy panchayat has remained with the Congress and I have been part of the local body as an elected member and president,” he said.
Gopinath said the recent developments in the Congress had pained him. “I have been asking myself what I could do in such a situation. Still, I stayed with the party since it was instrumental in our freedom movement,” he said.
“If the ordinary workers feel that the Congress and its leaders will not change and some are deliberately sidelined, they cannot be blamed. As an ordinary party worker, if I share these feelings you cannot blame me,” said Gopinath.
“Instead of continuing the journey without expectations and goals, my mind has always told me to end it once for all. From this minute, I am not a Congressman. I do not wish to join any other party and I haven’t held discussions with anyone,” he added.
Gopinath had been at odds with the Congress state leadership since the recent Assembly elections. There were rumours about his leaving the party as he was kept in the dark over the selection of candidates but he was pacified by senior leaders Oommen Chandy and K Sudhakaran.