Brijesh Kalappa ends 25 years in Congress

New Delhi: Brijesh Kalappa, a well-known Congress face in news channels and a Supreme Court lawyer, has resigned from the party's primary membership, ending his 25-year relationship with Congress.

He said he was "lacking in passion", and added that his performance in the party affairs have been "listless and perfunctory", in a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

In a letter that he sent on May 30, Kalappa thanked Sonia Gandhi for her "patronage", and said that he was grateful for the opportunities accorded to him including his appointment as legal adviser to the Karnataka government during the party's rule in the state, according to the Indian Express.

Sources close to him are of the opinion that he is likely to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that is led by Arvind Kejriwal.

He said he had represented the party on Hindi, English and Kannada channels since the UPA government in 2013 and had participated in 6,497 debates in over a decade. He maintained that during this time he has performed to the maximum of his abilities.

"Even at the worst of times for the Party in the aftermath of 2014 and 2019 debacles, I have never felt enervated and lacking in energy and enthusiasm. But, in the recent past I have been finding myself lacking in passion, while my own performance has been listless and perfunctory," Kalappa said.

"It is under these circumstances that I am left with little option but to resign from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress and to end an association that began in 1997," he added.

Some party sources have said that, he may be upset that for the recent MLC and upcoming Rajya Sabha election, he was not considered as a candidate.

Kalappa had also expressed displeasure over being denied a ticket to contest from Madikeri, in his home district of Kodagu, in the 2018 Assembly elections.