Hyderabad, Nov 22 (TIWN) Former Minister Marri Shashidhar Reddy resigned from the Congress on Tuesday, four days after the party expelled him for six years following his meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The senior leader announced his resignation from primary membership of the party while slamming the state leadership.  He is likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).  Shashidhar Reddy, son of late Chief Minister Marri Chenna Reddy, told reporters that he was quitting the party with a heavy heart and has written a letter to party leader Sonia Gandhi, explaining the reasons for his decision.  Also a former vice chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), he alleged that the Congress has 'match-fixing' with the state's ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).  He said the Congress was on a decline in Telangana and people no longer have confidence that a leader elected on a party ticket will remain.  He alleged that the Congress has failed to play the role of opposition party.  "The Congress party should have taken up issues on behalf of people but it is acting contrary to this," he said.  The former Minister said the Congress had been losing elections since the time when Uttam Kumar Reddy was the president of the party's state unit.