Ashok Tanwar, who was removed last month as chief of the Haryana unit of the Congress, quit the party on Saturday, delivering it a lethal blow just before the Assembly elections.

More than his political potential to harm the party, what will torment the Congress are the audacious accusations he has levelled in his resignation letter.

Tanwar has alleged that genuine workers who nurse the party with their blood and sweat are sacrificed to protect dynasties within the Congress, which is “plagued by feudal attitudes and medieval conspiracies”. He has accused the high command of allowing the party to be reduced to “personal fiefdoms of the rich and powerful”.

Tanwar was seen as a quintessential Congressman, rising from the party’s students’ wing to head the Youth Congress and then the party’s state unit.

In his resignation letter, Tanwar referred to internal contradictions in the party and the existence of an entrenched lobby that was bent on uprooting Rahul Gandhi loyalists, an allegation that former Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam had also made on Friday.

What is inexplicable is why a self-proclaimed Rahul loyalist chose to hold an ugly demonstration in front of Sonia Gandhi’s residence and describe the Congress as the “antithesis of democracy” before quitting.

Rahul, too, had signalled problems with the entrenched forces while resigning as party president but he had re-dedicated himself to strengthening the Congress instead of punching more holes into the sinking ship and deserting it.

Tanwar made it clear that he decided to leave because he was replaced by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as the Haryana unit chief and the candidates recommended by him were denied tickets for the elections scheduled later this month. Hooda has got over 60 tickets for his loyalists out of the total 90 seats.

Tanwar accused the party of surrendering to Hooda’s blackmail and money power. While there might be some merit in these charges, he is not blameless either.

Hooda, a two-term chief minister, was not ready to let the party slip out of his grip come what may. But even Tanwar as state chief ran the party in a confrontationist mode without making any effort at reconciliation. The high command was a mute spectator.

Hooda’s blackmail and Tanwar’s inaction destroyed the party’s infrastructure in Haryana. The helplessness of the central leadership and the collusion of some senior leaders with Hooda were exposed when his public endorsement of the Centre’s decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status was meekly digested.

Tanwar has indicated in his letter that Rahul’s tough stance on Hooda on several occasions was nullified by a section of central leaders.

Now, with Tanwar — a Dalit leader — gone and other senior leaders marginalised, the Congress is stuck with Hooda for survival in the state despite the serious trust deficit that has developed in the past few years. This also creates a peculiar situation as Hooda’s Jat politics helps the BJP consolidate its strategy of counter-mobilisation of non-Jat voters.