Gujarat, Feb 04 (HBTV): Amid speculations of his joining the BJP in the recent past, former Gujarat Congress President and senior leader Arjun Modhwadia resigned from the state Assembly on Monday (March 4). He submitted his resignation to the Assembly Speaker. He is an MLA from Porbandar. He was also a Leader of Opposition in the Assembly. He also wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge informing him about his resignation from the party. He ended his nearly four-decade association with the grand old party.

In a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Modhwadia cited the party leadership's decision to skip the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ram Mandir in January this year, and said that he has been unable to "contribute to the people" of his constituency.

"Prabhu Ram is not just Pujaniya to Hindus, but he is the Aastha of Bharat. Declining the invitation to witness pran pratishtha mahotsav has hurt the sentiments of the people of India. Congress as a party failed to assess the sentiments of the people...To further distract and humiliate this pious occasion, Rahul Gandhi attempted to create ruckus in Assam which further angered our party cadres and citizens of Bharat..." he said in the letter.