Upset over being neglected by the party leadership, Punjab Mahila Congress president Balvir Rani Sodhi has resigned from her post.
Sodhi has sent her resignation to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, citing family circumstances as the reason for quitting. “Kindly relieve me from the post of president Punjab Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee as I am unable to continue due to unavoidable compulsions of my circumstances,” she wrote to the Congress chief on Monday, with copy marked to party MP Rahul Gandhi and All India Mahila Congress’ acting president Netta D’Souza. Sodhi assured them that she will remain loyal to the party.
The Punjab Mahila Congress chief was reportedly upset over being “neglected” by the state leadership. “It was felt that the party’s women wing was not being consulted or taken into confidence. She was not seen in party meetings or programmes in recent weeks,” a party leader familiar with the development said. The state women wing president’s resignation, which came hours before the launch of the Congress’ ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ on September 7, is being seen as a setback for the party in Punjab. Party leaders are learnt to have reached out to Sodhi to placate and convince her to withdraw her resignation.
Sodhi, who was appointed to the post by the Congress president in November 2021, had pressed for tickets for women candidates in the state assembly polls. When her recommendations were ignored, she had publicly criticised the ticket allocation process.