Former Union minister and five-time MP from Mumbai North-East, Gurudas Kamat has announced that he has decided to quit Congress and politics. In a statement released to the media in Mumbai yesterday, Mr. Kamat said, he has served the party for many years and said he would prefer to occupy the backseat and enable others to get an opportunity.

He informed that he met Congress President Sonia Gandhi about 10 days back and had expressed his desire to resign.

Subsequently, he sent letters to both Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi that he would like to quit. Mr. Kamat further said that since there was no reply from them, he has formally announced that he would like to retire from politics.