Sitting Congress MP from Assam, Abdul Khaleque, who had resigned from the party on Friday, was back in the party fold on Wednesday afternoon to work under the “able” leadership of Rahul Gandhi and “strengthen” democratic forces.
The U-turn came following his interactions with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and K.C. Venugopal in Delhi since Tuesday.
The Barpeta MP shared a photograph of him submitting a letter to Kharge on Wednesday withdrawing his resignation. Khaleque, a former journalist, resigned from the party on March 15, after the declaration of party candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on March 12.
The Congress is contesting 13 of the 14 seats in Assam and has left one seat for ally Assam Jatiya Parishad. It holds three of the 14 seats while nine is held by the ruling BJP.
In his letter to Kharge, Khaleque claimed he quit due to “non-addressal of his grievances/issues” by PCC president Bhupen Kumar Borah and the AICC general secretary in charge of Assam Jitendra Singh.
Party insiders said he had not sought renomination from Barpeta but was interested in contesting from the adjacent Dhubri from where senior state leader Rakibul Hussain was fielded to take on AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal.