Elections 2019: Priyanka Chaturvedi Switches To Sena From Congress.

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Priyanka Chaturvedi, one of the Congress's most high-profile spokespersons, quit her party of 10 years and joined the Shiv Sena in less than 24 hours. Hours after she tweeted her resignation letter to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, she surfaced alongside Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya Thackeray.

"I gave ten years of my life to a political party at the end of which I felt extremely let down for not standing up on issues which are important for women's rights," said the 39-year-old, who gave the first hint of a rift with her party on Wednesday, when she tweeted about "lumpen goons" getting preference in the Congress over those who had "given their sweat and blood".

She was referring to the Congress's decision to take back a group of party workers who had been sacked after they allegedly manhandled her in September in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura, when she was addressing a press conference.

The workers were reportedly taken back with a nod from Jyotiraditya Scindia, who, along with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, is in charge of the party's campaign in UP.

Their return was announced in a letter from the UP Congress's "disciplinary committee", which was tweeted by a journalist and then retweeted by Priyanka Chaturvedi.

"Deeply saddened that lumpen goons get preference in @incindia over those who have given their sweat and blood. Having faced brickbats and abuse across board for the party but yet those who threatened me within the party getting away with not even a rap on their knuckles is unfortunate," she tweeted on Wednesday.

Last evening, she handed in her resignation letter to Rahul Gandhi. "In the last few weeks, certain things have convinced me that my services are not valued in the organization and that I have reached the end of the road. At the same time I also feel that the more time I spend in the organization will be at the cost of my own self respect and dignity," she wrote.

The episode capped her general resentment at not being picked as a Lok Sabha candidate from Mumbai for the ongoing national election.

Reports that she was joining the Shiv Sena were confirmed when she addressed a press conference with Uddhav Thackeray.

"Yes, I had talked about getting a ticket to contest the polls, but not getting one is not the reason I left the party... I want to clarify that that is not the reason for leaving," she said.

"Let me give you an example... If a family member sexually assaults you in the house and you go to your mother and tell her what happened, and in turn get told that let us hush up the matter or there will be a controversy, what should one do? What should one do if your mother tells you to bury the issue?"