Haryana Congress leader Sampat Singh has resigned from the party membership.
Sampat Singh, a six-time elected member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly, a two-term Cabinet Minister, and a one-term Leader of the Opposition, had left the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in 2009 to join the Congress. In a letter written to Congress National President Malikarjun Kharge, he cited the weakening of the Congress party.
Former Haryana finance minister and senior Congress leader Sampat Singh on Sunday said he had resigned from the primary membership of the party. Speculations were rife that he was about to join the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), but no comment came from him on that.
Talking to mediapersons, he said that he was ignored by the party, particularly former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, as he (Sampat) was denied ticket twice — in 2019 and 2024. A month ago, he had taken potshots at Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
In his resignation letter to Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, the six-time MLA described how he was sidelined despite his contribution and experience. He mentioned that he made it to the Haryana assembly six times and held cabinet minister portfolios twice and leader of Opposition once.
“I was assured the Fatehabad assembly seat, but assigned Nalwa instead. The people of Nalwa elected me as their representative in the Haryana assembly,” he said, while highlighting that the party lost Fatehabad.
He further wrote that despite his contribution and experience, he was denied a cabinet berth or any organisational role. I later learned that this was because I had met Kumari Selja after the elections, and her ministry (as then Union minister) had approved a ₹18 crore grant for my constituency,” he said.
He said the history repeated in the 2019 assembly elections, when he was again denied a ticket, and both Nalwa and Fatehabad were won by the BJP.