Congress leader Priya Dutt on Friday (April 5) ruled out the talks of her resignation from the party and said that she does not intend to do so, however, she has taken a "back seat". This comes after reports emerged that she would quit the Congress and join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Priya Dutt is the daughter of late actor and Congress leader Sunil Dutt and the sister of actor Sanjay Dutt.
What did Priya Dutt say on her resignation buzz?
"I have not resigned from Congress, I have not resigned, nor do I intend to. But I have taken a back seat. There is not possibility of me fighting the 2024 elections," Dutt said in an interview to India TV.
She informed that she did not want to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as well, however, she had conveyed about the same to the party very late, due to which she later decided to continue with being in the fray.
"My supporters know that I have been away from politics for last four years. It has been intentional because I did not want to contest the last elections but I conveyed to the party very late. I thought it would not have been just for the party to choose a new candidate, so I decided to fight the election. I took the conscious decision after that I would not contest the elections," she said.
Priya Dutt on young leaders leaving Congress
When asked about young leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia and Milind Deora quitting Congress, she said that the projection of youths in the Congress has dwindled in the recent past, unlike earlier when they were projected as the future of the party.
"On young leaders quitting Congress except Sachin Pilot, she said, "It is very saddening because I have worked with all of them. They have great leadership qualities. They could be the future of this country. It would have been very difficult for them to make this decision as they have been connected to the party for so long. Earlier, there used to be projection of youth in the Congress party. But after a while, that dwindled. The projection of youth along with Rahul Gandhi has gone missing," she said.
Priya Dutt on Modi government's work
The Congress leader lauded the Narendra Modi government for "completing the work started by the Congress government" in short duration.
"Modi government completed the work started by the Congress government. I congratulate them for that for doing in a short duration. The credit should go to both the governments. Nobody can predict the results. We should respect and have faith in the voters," she said.
Priya Dutt's electoral background
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Dutt lost from the Mumbai North Central constituency to BJP's Poonam Mahajan. Mahajan had defeated her on the seat in 2014 as well. In 2009, Dutt had defeated BJP’s Mahesh Jethmalani. She has been marginalised within the party since 2019 after which the party has not given has responsibility.
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