Congress national spokesperson Gourav Vallabh quit the party on Thursday in a major blow to the party ahead of Lok Sabha polls saying the he did not feel comfortable with the stance of the party on various issue including the Ayodhya Ram temple and anti-Sanatan remark by its allies.
In a letter addressed to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Vallabh said that he was not comfortable with the party's stance including that on the consecration ceremony at Ayodhya Ram temple.
"I am a Hindu by birth and a teacher by profession and this stand of the party has always made me uncomfortable and troubled. Many people associated with the party and the alliance speak against Sanatan, and the party remaining silent on it is like giving tacit approval to it," he said.
Pointing that the party is calling for a caste-based census while opposing a complete Hindu society, the professor of finance said the party is moving in a "wrong direction".
"The party's view on every disinvestment taking place in the country has always been negative. Is it wrong to earn money by doing business in our country," Vallabh said.
He went on to say: "When I joined the party, my only aim was to use my ability and capibility in economic matters in the interest of the country. We may not be in power, but we could have presented the party's economic policy-making in the national interest in a better way in our manifesto and elsewhere. But this effort was not made at the party level which is no less than a suffocation for a person knowledgable about economic matters like me."
Concluding the letter, he said that he does not feel comfortable with how the party is moving directionless.
"Neither can I raise anti-Sanatan slogans nor criticise wealth creators day and night," he said, adding that for this reason "I resign from all posts and primary membership of the Congres party."
Vallabh is expected to join the Bharatiya Janata Party later in the day.