Jolt to UP Congress as two more leaders quit party

Muzaffarnagar, Oct 20 (IANS) In a major jolt to the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, the state vice president Pankaj Malik and his father Harendra Malik, a former MP and a member of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's advisory committee, have resigned from the party.Pankaj Malik is the second vice president to quit the party after Lalitesh Pati Tripathi.Pankaj Malik, also a former MLA, released to the media a letter he has sent to the state Congress president, resigning from the primary membership of the Congress.At a press conference held in Muzaffarnagar, senior Congress leader and former MP Harendra Malik also announced his decision to leave the party.He said that he has not yet taken the decision of joining any other political party but sources said that the father and son were heading towards Samajwadi Party.The development came on a day Priyanka Gandhi announced that the Congress will give 40 per cent tickets to women in the coming UP assembly elections.
--IANS amita/shs

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