Guwahati: Former Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar resigned from the Congress, ending a decade-long association with the party on Tuesday.
Kumar, in a letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, said, “Having given my thoughtful consideration to the matter, I have concluded that in the present circumstances and consistent with my dignity, I can best subserve larger national causes outside the party-fold.”
“I am accordingly quitting the party after a long association of 46 years and hope to proactively pursue public causes inspired by the idea of transformative leadership, based on the dignitarian promise of a liberal democracy envisioned by our freedom fighters,” he added.
He formerly served in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry as Union Minister of Law and Justice and Union Minister of State.
He was appointed as one of India’s youngest Additional Solicitor General in 1991, at the age of 37. He was the National Spokesperson and Chairman of the Vichar Vibhag of the Indian National Congress party. He has represented big firms in international arbitrations and has contested important matters before the Supreme Court of India, notably the Bhopal Gas Tragedy case. Since 2002, he has served in the Rajya Sabha.