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1st LD Writethru: India's former minister quits opposition Congress party

Xinhua, January 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

India's former Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan quit the country's main opposition Congress party on Friday, with a scathing attack on the party's vice-president and Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi.

"I announce my resignation from the primary membership of the Congress party. It's an extremely painful moment for me. Whatever I did during my tenure as the Environment Minister was following the party's line. I did nothing wrong," she told the media in the southern city of Chennai.

She also accused Rahul Gandhi, the son of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, of interference while she was the minister in the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government.

The former minister's remarks came hours after a letter of hers to Sonia Gandhi, citing her son's interference, surfaced in a media report.

The Indian government was quick to attack the former Congress- led United Progressive Alliance government.

"Former Environment Minister's letter has emerged today. Issues which were believed to be rumors have been vindicated now," Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

However, senior Congress leader P.C. Chacko said: "These are baseless allegations; if somebody wants to resign from the party for personal reasons they are free to do so." Endi