In a major blow to the congress ahead of Haryana Polls, former Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar has resigned from all election committees of the party.

Tanwar, who said he would continue to work as an ordinary party worker, made the move a day after protesting outside Sonia Gandhi’s residence here over alleged irregularities in ticket distribution.

In his letter to Congress president Gandhi, Tanwar said he was stepping down from various committees formed by her for the Haryana assembly elections but would continue to work to strengthen the party as its “ordinary soldier”.

He further wrote he had taken the decision with “immense pain” and “after exhausting all avenues to get my voice heard”.

Last month, Tanwar was replaced as Haryana Congress chief by Kumari Selja under pressure from former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda, with whom he had a long-running tiff.

Tanwar alleged that the Congress in Haryana had turned into “Hooda Congress” as those “who had worked against the party’s interests in the last five years had been given prominence over those who slogged to strengthen the opposition party in Haryana”.

Tanwar recalled his journey, which he started at the age of 17, in the Congress, in the three-page letter that he wrote to Gandhi.

Alleging “sabotage” by leaders without naming Hooda, he wrote: “It is excruciating to see the same individuals taking all the decisions and instead of allowing just, free and fair selection of candidates…the individuals are selling tickets and subverting the great political legacy of the Congress…”

He added he had tried to raise the issues with his seniors in the party and found them to be “indifferent”.

Asked if he would campaign for the party, Tanwar said he would assess it as and when someone requires him for campaigning, he would take a call accordingly.

Meanwhile, terming allegations levelled by Tanwar as completely “false and baseless”, Selja said, “The tickets were distributed as per the process undertaken by the CEC. The names were decided after considering everyone in the party from ground to top level.”