India, Nov 3 : In a major political development in Haryana, former finance minister and senior Congress leader Sampat Singh on Sunday announced his resignation from the party’s primary membership, alleging persistent neglect and favouritism within the state leadership.
Speculations are rife that the sixtime MLA may return to the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the party he left in 2009 to join the Congress, though Singh has not confirmed this yet.
Addressing the media, the veteran leader said he had been repeatedly ignored by the party and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, especially after being denied assembly tickets in both 2019 and 2024. “I was assured the Fatehabad seat but was instead given Nalwa. The people of Nalwa elected me, while the party lost Fatehabad,” Singh said, adding that his loyalty and performance were overlooked.
In his resignation letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Singh outlined how he was sidelined despite his long-standing contributions. “I served as MLA six times, held cabinet portfolios twice, and was once Leader of the Opposition. Yet, I was denied any cabinet berth or organisational role,” he wrote.
He alleged that his cordial ties with senior leader Kumari Selja were used against him by the state leadership. “After I worked for Selja’s victory in Sirsa during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the leadership felt insecure. I was again denied a ticket, and Congress lost Nalwa once more,” he added.
Sampat Singh’s political career spans over four decades. Once a close associate of Devi Lal and O.P. Chautala, he served the INLD for 32 years before joining the Congress in 2009. His ties with Hooda reportedly soured after 2019 when he was denied a ticket and briefly joined the BJP, only to return to the Congress last year — but faced another rejection from the Nalwa seat.
The veteran leader also hit out at the Congress for its continuous decline in Haryana over the past 15 years, saying “no accountability has been fixed” for repeated electoral setbacks. His resignation letter also referenced other prominent leaders who left the Congress, including Bhajan Lal, Rao Inderjit Singh, Kuldeep Bishnoi, Dharambir Singh, and Arvind Sharma.
On September 25, Singh attended the INLD rally in Rohtak marking Devi Lal’s birth anniversary, where he took a veiled swipe at Hooda’s appointment as CLP leader, questioning the central leadership’s year-long delay in confirming the role.
Sampat Singh’s exit marks yet another blow to the Haryana Congress, which continues to grapple with internal rifts and leadership challenges ahead of the next assembly elections.