Youth Congress leader, who criticised Rahul Gandhi, AK Antony in FB post, quits party

Kollam (Kerala): A day after criticising Rahul Gandhi and A.K. Antony in his Facebook post, Kerala Youth Congress Vice President C.R. Mahesh on Wednesday announced his decision to quit the party.

Following his criticism of Rahul, the national leadership of the Congress earlier in the day suspended him from the party. But Mahesh announced his decision to quit the party even before the suspension was made public.

Speaking to reporters here, Mahesh said that he had decided to quit the party. "I have decided to end full time politics and now will look for a living. I am not going to join any other political party," he said.

On Tuesday, Mahesh in his Facebook post asked Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi that he must make way for others if he did not want to lead the party and came down heavily on Antony, whom he termed as a "silent monk" and demanded that he break his silence.

Mahesh contested the 2016 assembly polls from Karunagapally in Kollam district and lost to CPI's R. Ramachandran.

Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy lashed out at Mahesh for attacking the top leaders of the party, while Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said Mahesh airing his comments publicly was not correct.