Mumbai, Maharashtra: All India Congress Committee’s national spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi on Friday quit the Congress and joined the Shiv Sena in Mumbai.
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Priyanka Chaturvedi, originally from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, announced her decision to quit Congress at a press conference at Matoshri that is Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s residence here in Mumbai.
Chaturvedi said she was hurt by the “misbehaviour” of some Congress party office-bearers with her some time back and that she had pointed that out to the “party high-command”. She denied that she had left the Congress because she was denied a Lok Sabha ticket. “I was seeking a ticket, I was hopeful. But I was absolutely sure that if that ticket did not come my way, that would not lead to bitterness. That’s not the reason I left,” she said replying to a question.
Welcoming Chaturvedi into the party, Thackeray said the former Congress spokesperson would be given responsibilities in the Shiv Sena according to her “talent, intelligence, and capabilities”.
“Every Maharashtrian is associated with Shiv Sena. I have been associated with Shiv Sena since my childhood since I was born into this city and Mumbai has been my janmabhoomi and karmabhoomi. There was no man parivartan (change of heart) required,” she said.
Earlier on Friday, Chaturvedi sent a two-page letter to Congress president Rahul Gandhi resigning all organisational posts of the party and also the primary membership. She also promptly changed her profile on her Twitter handle from “Congress spokesperson” to “columnist”. Two days back, she caused a political flutter when she tweeted her anguish over “lumpen goons getting preference in Congress over those who have given their sweat and blood”.
The letter, which Chaturvedi shared on her twitter handle, says that “in the last few weeks, certain things have convinced me that my services are not valued in the organisation and that I have reached the end of the road.” The letter adds that “what saddens me is that despite the safety, dignity, empowerment of women being promoted by the party and has been your call to action, the same is not reflected in the action of some of the members of the party.”
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