Kamat withdraws resignation; claims Cong 'best platform to serve people'

On Thursday senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat withdrew his resignation, days after he had parted his way from the party because of ‘personal reasons’. Speaking to media persons, he said that he would withdraw his resignation as the General Secretary, All India Congress Committee and from the Congress Party. He said he would like to continue serving under the party leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi with the same charge of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu. [caption id=“attachment_2851690” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A file photo of Gurudas Kamat. News 18[/caption] He said, “During the last fortnight a large number of Senior Party leaders tried to convince me to rethink on the decision. My meeting with my Party President Smt Sonia Gandhi helped me to make up my mind that the Congress Party is the best platform to serve the people of this country.” Kamat, a five-time MP from Mumbai, had given his resignation from the party and active politics in the first week of June. At the time Kamat had claimed that he had sent in his resignation as the General Secretary for personal reasons and to concentrate on social service minus the party tag. In his resignation letter Kamat had said, “For several months now, I have felt I need to take a backseat to enable others to get the opportunity. I met Hon Congress president about ten days ago and expressed a desire to resign.” But Kamat was known as a loyalist of the Gandhi family and hence his resignation was met with surprise in political circles. A senior party leader, who spoke to IANS on condition of anonymity, had said that Kamat was unhappy over the way some issues had been handled by Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam and party general secretary Mohan Prakash, who is in charge of the Congress affairs in Maharashtra. A former Mumbai Congress president for two terms, Kamat, 61, has deep knowledge of the city politics and his absence could have proved detrimental for the party which is hoping to capture the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in next year’s critical elections. The Congress has seen some of its senior leaders quitting the party over the past year, following a series of electoral setbacks the party suffered after its debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Senior Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi quit the pasty and on announced that he was forming his own party in the state. Former Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who left the Congress, was seen to be instrumental in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s impressive victory in the Assam assembly polls. Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, who was involved in a revolt against his successor Harish Rawat, also left the Congress to join the BJP. With inputs from IANS