Lucknow, December 26: Savitri Bai Phule on Thursday announced to quit the Congress, alleging that her opinions were not being considered within the party. Savitri Bai Phule, a prominent Dalit leader, resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and joined the Congress in March this year ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were present at the time of her induction in the party.

"My voice is not being heard in Congress. Hence I am resigning. I will form my own party," Phule announced at a press conference. Her induction in the Congress was seen as a major success for Priyanka Gandhi who is assigned the task of reviving party's fortunes in Uttar Pradesh. Phule then contested election from Bahraich parliamentary seat but lost to BJP candidate Shabbir Balmiki. She recieved nearly four percent of total votes polled. Backward Will Lose Their Rights if Reservation Ends: Savitri Bai Phule.

Interestingly, Phule won the Bahraich Lok Sabha seat when she contested as a BJP candidate in 2014. Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, she started raising her voice against the BJP camp and was positioning herself as a leader in her own right. She had also referred to the BJP as "anti-Dalit". She had stoked a political controversy when she called Muhammad Ali Jinnah a ‘mahapurush’ (great personality), causing embarrassment to her former party, BJP.

"All the ‘mahapurush’ who had contributed to the freedom struggle, irrespective of their caste or community, need to be respected," Phule had said while reacting to a row over Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s portrait at the prestigious Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). Asked if Jinnah was a ‘mahapurush’, she had replied, "He was, is, and will always remain a great person."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 26, 2019 01:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).