Actor Urmila Matondkar resigns from Congress after five months, cites petty in-house politics
Around five months after she joined the Congress, actor Urmila Matondkar has resigned from the party. In her statement, Urmila Matondkar cited petty in-house politics in Congress as a reason for quitting the party.
In Short
- Actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar has resigned from Congress
- The Bollywood actor had joined the Congress ahead of Lok Sabha polls in March
- Urmila cited petty in-house politics in the Congress as a reason for her quitting the party
In another blow to the Congress in Maharashtra, Bollywood actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar on Tuesday resigned from the party.
Urmila Matondkar’s decision to resign from the Congress comes merely five months after she joined the party in March ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Citing petty politics as the reason, Urmila Matondkar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI, "My political and social sensibilities refuse to allow vested interests in the party to use me as a mean to fight petty in-house politics instead of working on a bigger goal in Mumbai Congress."
The 44-year-old actor had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North seat as a Congress candidate. Urmila Matondkar had taken on senior BJP leader Gopal Shetty.
WHAT URMILA MATONDKAR SAID IN HER STATEMENT
In her statement, Urmila said the thought of resignation came to her after no action was taken regarding her letter in which she had criticised close aides of senior party leader Sanjay Nirupam.
"To my utter dismay, the letter containing privileged and confidential communication was conveniently leaked to the media which according to me was an act of blatant betrayal. Needless to say, no one from the party was apologetic or even concerned towards me for the same despite my repeated protests," Urmila Matondkar said in her statement.
The actor alleged in the letter that some of the persons named in her letter for "shoddy" performance of the Congress in Mumbai North were rewarded with newer positions. "It is obvious that the key functionaries of the Mumbai Congress are either unable or not committed to bring about a change and transformation in the organisation for betterment of the party," Urmila Matondkar said.
"My political and social sensibilities refuse to allow vested interests in the party to use me as a mean to fight petty in-house politics instead of working on a bigger goal in Mumbai Congress," Urmila added. Urmila said she will continue to work for people with honesty and dignity as she thanked all those who helped and supported her.
HERE TO SAY: WHEN URMILA JOINED THE CONGRESS
Urmila Matondkar had joined the Congress in March saying she was here to stay and will not leave after the elections.
"I am here because I believe in the ideology of Congress and what the party stands for. I have not joined the party for the sake of elections," Urmila had said as she was welcomed by the then Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.
Also read | Actor Urmila Matondkar joins Congress, says she is here to stay
Also read | Leak of confidential letter unfortunate: Urmila Matondkar