Senior Congress party leader Anand Sharma on Sunday resigned from the chairmanship of the party’s steering committee for Himachal Pradesh, ahead of the upcoming elections scheduled to be held this year, PTI reported. The former union minister was appointed as chairman of the Steering Committee in Himachal Pradesh on April 26.

In the letter to party president Sonia Gandhi, the deputy leader of the Congress in Rajya Sabha, said that his “self respect is non-negotiable”. He has reportedly told Gandhi that his self-respect has been hurt as he has not been consulted or invited for any of the meetings of the party.

However, he told the party president that he will continue to campaign for the candidates in the state.

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The 69-year-old leader has cited instances where he was not informed of key election strategy meetings in Himachal Pradesh, as reported by The Tribune.

The resignation comes  in the backdrop of another Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad declining to assume the position of chairmanship of the party’s steering committee in Jammu and Kashmir on August 17.

“Ghulam Nabi Azad has refused to assume the post of Campaign Committee President of J&K due to health reasons. He has conveyed this to the Congress leadership & has also thanked the leadership for giving him the responsibility,” ANI had reported, quoting Congress sources.

Both the Congress leaders — Azad and Sharma — are part of the G23 grouping which has been critical of the party’s leadership. The group which also consisted of Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Manish Tewari has been insisting on genuine elections right from the block up to the CWC level.

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The Congress will be locking horns with the BJP that is in power in the state in the elections that are slated to be held later this year.

Sharma had first contested assembly elections in 1982, In 1984, he was given a Rajya Sabha ticket by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and has been a Rajya Sabha member ever since. He has held multiple key positions in Congress.