In a serious blow to the Congress party, six-time MLA and former minister Sampat Singh resigned from the party on Sunday, citing deep-rooted dysfunction in its state unit. Singh claimed that senior Congress leaders in Haryana had “sabotaged” promising candidates and allowed factional interests to override the party's electoral strategy.
In his resignation letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Singh alleged that the state unit had became a “family fiefdom” under a dominant leader, accusing the high command of ignoring loyal senior workers and sanctioning ticket sales to favourites.
"Close aides of state leadership, fielded as Independents to ensure defeat of Congress candidates, altered narratives in multiple constituencies. Capable candidates were ignored, and those with money and power were given tickets," Singh said in his resignation letter emailed to Kharge, terming the actions as "ticket chori" and "vote chori" by the party's state leadership in the 2024 Assembly elections.
He also highlighted how senior leaders, including former CM Bhajan Lal, his son Kuldeep Bishnoi, former CM Bansi Lal's daughter-in-law Kiran Choudhry, and Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh, were "forced to leave" the Haryana Congress over the past two decades.
Singh, who was denied a ticket in both 2019 and 2024, said he had rejoined Congress in 2022 after a stint with the BJP, but was again sidelined by the Bhupinder Hooda-led state leadership.
In his detailed resignation letter, Singh recalled being shifted from his traditional Fatehabad seat to Nalwa in 2009 — a move he said cost the party electorally. Despite his win, he claimed he was denied a Cabinet post due to his proximity to Kumari Selja, who had secured central grants for his constituency.
He also accused the Congress of alienating Dalit voters by "humiliating" Selja, allowing "casteist remarks and derogatory videos" against her, and sidelining her loyalists. Singh added that his efforts as coordinator in Sirsa during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls were resented by the state leadership, which later denied him a ticket again.
Sampat's exit comes weeks after he attended an INLD rally in Rohtak, signalling a possible return to his former party — where he once held sway under Devi Lal and remained a key player in Haryana's Jat politics.
The 2024 Assembly elections, he said, should serve as a case study for the Congress. "Despite every survey, media outlet, and informal assessment predicting a Congress victory, the party suffered defeat, a result that came as no surprise to those aware of the persistent decay within the organisation. Since 2009, the party has ignored every warning sign as its fortunes steadily declined," he said.
"The state leadership consolidated its personal political power. In 2020, when a Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant, instead of promoting a deserving member from the Scheduled or Backward Castes, the leader’s own son (Deepender Singh Hooda) was nominated, turning a national party into a regional family enterprise. Even Randeep Singh Surjewala, a four-term MLA and INC General Secretary, had to be nominated from Rajasthan due to factionalism. Later, Ajay Maken, Congress treasurer, lost the Rajya Sabha election from Haryana, another reflection of the leadership crisis," Singh further alleged.
Raising questions over the recent appointments of Hooda as the Leader of the Opposition and Rao Narender Singh as the state Congress president, Singh wrote, "After the 2024 election defeat, Rahul Gandhi himself acknowledged that the state leadership had prioritised personal interests over the party. Yet, once again, the same leadership was retained.
"Under these circumstances, I have lost my faith in the Congress’s ability to represent the interests of the people of Haryana. As a proud Haryanvi, I cannot let my people down. My commitment to Haryana remains steadfast, but my faith in the current INC leadership does not. Therefore, I am constrained to tender my resignation from the Indian National Congress," Singh wrote.
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