Lucknow: Days Ahead of the bypoll on Bangarmau Assembly seat in Unnao district, former local MP Annu Tandon on Thursday resigned from the Congress, saying that her “faith in the party has been shattered”. In her resignation letter sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Tandon said it was no longer possible to work for the people Unnao “within the framework of Congress party’s state organisation”. However, UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said Tandon “has been expelled from the party for six years on charges of anti-party activities”.

She had “not been taking interest in party programmes for a long time” and the disciplinary committee of the party looked into these charges, PTI quoted Lallu as saying. Speaking with The Indian Express, Tandon said, “I got a lot of warmth from the party’s central leadership and the decision was not easy for me to take. However, for several months there was a misalignment between the state leadership and me, which made it difficult to work.”

She also claimed that even other senior leaders of the party felt equally “perplexed and helpless at the state of affairs”. She added, “I have resigned from the party and not politics. I will be politically active to represent my people and talk to them before taking any decision about the future line of action.” In an official statement after her resignation, Tandon said: “My karma bhumi is the state of Uttar Pradesh, with due importance to my home district of Unnao. I wish to continue serving the state and my people politically, apart from the philanthropic and social work I have been doing here in the past two decades.” She further said that she continued to remain in the party for several months despite being at odds with those in the state leadership. She even spoke to party General Secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, but added: “We have been unable to resolve a forward path that is amenable to all parties concerned.” “My faith in the party has been shattered and I believe it is no longer possible to work for the people of the state and my district within the framework of the Congress party’s state organisation.”

As for her future path, she said that she would consult with her workers “who are core to everything I have achieved so far”. “I am confident that we will continue to be a force for good, a force for change and a means to truly represent the voice of the people,” she added.

Tandon contested as a Congress candidate for the first time in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, leaving behind her corporate profile. She won from the seat, becoming a first-time MP. However, she lost to BJP’s Sakshi Maharaj in the next two elections despite securing a large chunk of votes. In 2019 elections, while Sakshi Maharaj had won with about 7 lakh votes and SP’s Arun Shukla garnered nearly 3 lakh votes, Tandon got 1.85 lakh votes. Similarly, in 2014 elections, while standing fourth, she still managed to bag 1.97 lakh votes.

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