Arvinder Singh Lovely resigns as Delhi Congress chief, cites alliance with AAP

 

Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely resigned from his post on Sunday and cited the alliance with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party for the Lok Sabha election 2024.  

"The Delhi Congress Unit was against an alliance with a party which was formed on the sole basis of leveling false, fabricated and malafide corruption charges against the Congress Party. Despite that, the party made a decision to ally with the AAP in Delhi...," Arvinder Singh Lovely wrote in his resignation letter.

Arvinder Singh Lovely's resignation comes days after former Delhi minister and All India Congress Committee member Rajkumar Chauhan resigned from the party following the meeting of the Delhi Congress’ disciplinary committee.

A party leader said that Chauhan, who was involved in an alteration with AICC Delhi in-charge Deepak Babria on Sunday, submitted his resignation on Wednesday morning.

The Delhi Congress’ disciplinary committee held a meeting on Tuesday and left it to the AICC to decide whether to take any action on complaints against Chauhan.

"Babaria called for a meeting and we had gone to his house. When I started speaking in the meeting, Babria asked me to 'get out' and he repeated it four to five times. I was trying to tell him that the candidate, who has been given the ticket (Udit Raj), has been abusing every caste," Chauhan said.

"I am a four-time MLA and a three-time minister (in Delhi government). We have done so many development works for Delhi. An outsider was telling me to get out. That's why I was angry and sent my resignation to DPCC chief Arvinder Singh Lovely," Chauhan said, adding that he did not get a ticket last time also.

The Delhi Congress disciplinary committee, under the chairmanship of Narendra Nath, had unanimously decided that the AICC should decide on the complaint against Chauhan.

In a remarkable twist in political drama, the Congress party has undergone a sifgnificant transformation in its stance towards Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's alleged involvement in the excise policy case and his subsequent arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

In fact, the party shifted stance from making accusations agains AAP chief to his defence. 

This shift in the party's position has unfolded against the backdrop of the ED's action in the excise policy case and the sealing of a seat-sharing deal between Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Lok Sabha elections.