Bollywood actress-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar, who joined the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, resigned from the party on Tuesday. She made her political debut by contesting Lok Sabha election from the North Mumbai constituency. She was defeated by BJP veteran Gopal Shetty.

She had earlier written to the party leadership, asking to fix responsibility for the losses in Mumbai seats. 

Blaming that her efforts went unnoticed and was rather taken for granted, Urmila went on to state that the reason for her quitting was "being used as a means to fight petty in-house politics instead of working on a bigger goal."

In a statement announcing her decision to resign from the party, Ms Matondkar said she would stand by her own thought and ideologies.

Here is the full text of her statement:

I’ve resigned from the Indian National Congress.

The first thought of resignation came to me when after my repeated efforts, no action was taken in pursuance of my letter dated 16th May, addressed to then Mumbai Congress President Mr. Milind Deora. Thereafter, to my utter dismay, the said letter containing privileged and confidential communication was conveniently leaked to the media which according to me was an act of blatant betrayal. Needless to say, no one from the party was apologetic or even concerned towards me for the same despite my repeated protests.

Significantly, some of the persons specifically named in my letter for the shoddy performance of INC in MUMBAI North were rewarded with newer positions instead of holding them accountable for their acts and omissions. However, it is obvious that the key functionaries of Mumbai Congress are either unable or not committed to bringing about a change and transformation in the organization for the betterment of the party. My political and social sensibilities refuse to allow vested interests in the party to use me as a mean to fight petty in-house politics instead of working on a bigger goal in Mumbai Congress.

I stand by all my thoughts and ideologies and will continue to work for people to the best of my capacity with honesty and dignity.

I thank all the people who helped and supported me through my journey. I also wish to sincerely thank the media.