Kerala Youth Congress leader CR Mahesh, who had criticised party Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday, resigned from the outfit on Wednesday. Mahesh told reporters that he had no intention of joining any other political body. The Youth Congress is believed to have suspended him after his press conference, citing indiscipline, Hindustan Times reported.

“It is time for me to quit politics. It does not mean that I am eyeing another party. I am fed up with politics of groupism, and the party I represented for many years is in no mood to change or reform itself,” Mahesh said.

In a Facebook post, he had said: “Respected Rahul Gandhi, if you are not interested in taking the lead, please make way, as this great entity that has roots all over the country is getting snapped.” Mahesh had pointed out that the party was facing a crisis at both the national and state level and was being “uprooted” from the country. “We are prepared to die to see that the Indian National Congress stays alive in the country, but it should be ensured that the merit should be given due credit.”

The Youth Congress leader had said that the Kerala Pradesh Congress had remained leaderless for the past two weeks, at a time when they should be actively highlighting the failures of the Communist Party of India(Marxist) and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state. He had also urged Congress Working Committee member AK Antony to speak up.

The party’s embarrassing loss in the recent Assembly elections had drawn reactions from a number of Congress leaders. Former minister Ashwani Kumar had said that Congress now faces the threat of losing its relevance as a national party. Former party MP from Mumbai Priya Dutt had said, “Congress has shown repeatedly that it suffers from an auto-immune disease...We need to be treated from within to be healthy again.”