Arunachal Cong chief offers to quit owning moral responsibility of defeat

Itanagar, May 29 (HS): The Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Takam Sanjoy has offered to submit his resignation to party president Rahul Gandhi.

He congratulated Pema Khandu and his team for winning majority of its own and capturing power in the Himalayan kingdom.

Sanjoy informed that he has informally told the AICC president that he wants to resign owning moral responsibility for the poor performance of the party in the state.

“I will send formal resignation letter in a day or two. It is up to party president whether to accept it or not. I will always remain a loyal Congress worker,” he said. Further he said Congress may have won just 4 seats in the assembly election but party will continue to play an important role as an opposition party in the state.

Sanjoy also expressed concern over the “financial implications the people may have to face,” owing to the huge involvement of money during the elections.

“The BJP promised the moon to the people and spent crores of rupees. I am wondering how they will fulfill those promises. The state’s coffer is dwindling, and contractors are not receiving payments. In the coming days, things will get more difficult as the government may even struggle to pay salaries to the employees,” Sanjoy claimed.

“This is an ideological battle and we will continue to fight against the BJP, both inside and outside the assembly. The Congress still occupies the minds of the people of the state,” Sanjoy said.

While admitting that his party is going through a difficult period, he said every political party goes through ups and downs.

“This is a temporary setback, and we will come back stronger. The BJP, too, went through a similar phase from 2004 till they won the election in 2014,” Sanjoy said.

Dismissing the allegation that inequitable ticket distribution cost the Congress some seats in the state, Sanjoy said, “Most of our strong candidates were lured by other parties. Candidates who were part of the Congress chose to fight from parties like the NPP and the JD (U). The BJP promised them that, being part of the NEDA, they would be taken care of by the ruling government. That’s why I am saying money played an important role in deciding the fate of the 2019 elections.”

The APCC president also cautioned the Sangh Parivar against interfering in the running of the affairs of the state.

On the question of AICC president Rahul Gandhi’s decision to tender his resignation, the APCC president expressed hope that Gandhi would continue to lead the party.

“Even though some people may not agree with his politics, everyone has to agree that in this election he fought with a lot of honesty and conviction. He is a leader who works with morality. For him, owning moral responsibility is more important than remaining the party chief. The Congress workers will accept whatever decision he takes,” Sanjoy said.

He added that the Congress party would conduct deep introspection and start afresh to reconnect with the people of Arunachal.