Tycoon-turned-political hopeful Mikhail Prokhorov quit the Kremlin-linked Right Cause on Thursday after he was ousted as leader in a power struggle inside the party.
The pro-business Right Cause was widely thought to have been a Kremlin attempt to woo liberal and opposition-minded voters ahead of State Duma elections in December. But it has taken a leftist slant in its campaigning under Prokhorov.
Prokhorov, who was unanimously voted party leader this summer, said the Kremlin's interference was the reason for his departure. He accused the Kremlin of engineering his ouster in a party vote Thursday and called Right Cause a "puppet party."