The Congress suffered another setback in Kerala’s Wayanad, which is also a VIP Lok Sabha seat represented by Rahul Gandhi, with former DCC president P V Balachandran quitting the party on Tuesday, alleging that the grant old party has failed to check the growth of the BJP in the country.

Ending his 52-year-long association with the party, Balachandran, a member of the KPCC executive committee, said both majority and minority communities are moving away from the Congress and the people would not stand with a party which has lost its direction.

He also slammed the style of functioning of the Congress state leadership, alleging that they were not able to take a clear political stand on the issues affecting the people.

Announcing the decision at a press conference here, Balachandran said his decision to quit the party was based on the realization that it will not be able to function anymore in accordance with the spirit of the Congress workers.

Balachandran’s is the latest in the series of resignations happening in the Congress in Wayanad.

Former MLA K C Rosakutty, KPCC secretary M S Vishwanathan, and DCC general secretary Anil Kumar had quit the party before the Assembly polls held in the state in April this year.

Balachandran’s decision to quit the party has also come as a setback for the current leadership of the Congress, which is rattled by the resignation of prominent leaders like K P Anil Kumar and P S Prasanth in protest against the style of functioning KPCC Chief K Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition in the assembly V D Satheesan.