'No trace of values left...' CR Kesavan, grandson of C Rajagopalachari, quits Congress

CR Kesavan, the grandson of India's first Governor-General C Rajagopalachari, resigned from the Congress on Thursday, February 23. In his resignation letter to party president Mallikarjun Kharge, CR Kesavan said he had not seen any 'vestige of the values' that had motivated him to work for the party for over two decades. 

"I can no longer say in good conscience that I agree with what the Party currently symbolises, stands for..." he wrote in the letter. "This is why I recently declined a national organisational responsibility and also declined to participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra," he continued. 

He mentioned, "It's time for me to chart a new path, so I resign immediately from the Congress party's primary membership. I have also resigned as a Tamil Nadu Congress Committee Charitable Trust trustee to the appropriate authorities."

Dismissed speculation that he might join another party or that some offer prompted his resignation, Kesavan said he doesn't know what will happen next. "To be clear, I have not spoken to anyone and honestly do not know what will happen next," he continued. 

In his letter, CR Kesavan said he returned to India to serve the nation driven by an ideology 'all-inclusive and committed to the goal of incremental national transformation.'

Kesavan described his time in Congress as both challenging and engaging since 2001. He was appointed vice president of the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development in Sriperumbudur, a member of the Rasar Bharati Board, etc. 

CR Kesavan expressed gratitude to Sonia Gandhi for the opportunities while questioning the party's direction "I will work hard in good faith to serve our country through a political process. It will be one in which I can continue to uphold the integrity and ideals of public life instilled and defended by our great nation's funding fathers and mothers and my great grandfather C Rajagopalachari."

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