Ex-Congress Chief Of Delhi Arvinder Singh Says Won't Join Another Party, Denies Discontent Over LS Tickets

Arvinder Singh Lovely said he resigned as Delhi Congress chief due to principled differences, denying discontent over Lok Sabha poll tickets. He stressed he is not looking to join another party.

Arvinder Singh Lovely, the former Delhi Congress chief, addressed his resignation at a press conference, clarifying that it was not due to discontent over tickets for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. He emphasised that his pain stemmed from the principles the party has been fighting for over the past several years.

"I resigned as Delhi Congress chief. I want to clarify that I have not resigned over discontent over tickets (for Lok Sabha polls)... We (Congress and AAP) are contesting the (Lok Sabha) polls together but the Congress and its workers never gave a clean chit (to AAP) or giving them the credits to build schools and hospitals," said Lovely, as quoted by news agency ANI.

"My pain stems from a principled stance for which we have been fighting for the last 7-8 years, Our candidates are denying reality, instead of talking about Sheila Dixit's government, giving a clean chit (to AAP). Congress workers did not agree to give credit for opening schools and hospitals (to AAP), which is far from the reality... 30 to 35 of our ex-MLAs have come to meet me since morning," he remarked.

Speaking about Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj's claim of him joining the BJP, Lovely responded, "I thank Saurabh Bharadwaj for his wishes. I think he makes the decisions on behalf of other parties. I have clearly said that I have resigned from the post of Delhi Congress chief", as reported by news agency ANI.

He further asserted, "I have resigned as Delhi Congress chief. I will meet the party workers and hold discussions with them, I am not joining any other party."

Meanwhile, Haryana Congress in-charge Deepak Babaria confirmed that his resignation has been accepted by the Congress High Command with immediate effect.

"We might face some challenges after Arvinder Singh Lovely's resignation. But that does not mean any of our work will be halted or that our candidates might lose... I stopped him at many places because the people who should not have been promoted were getting promoted. And it caused a demoralising effect on the other workers of the party..." he told ANI.

Arvinder Singh Lovely Critices Kanhaiya Kumar For Praising Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

This resignation comes as a setback to the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Lovely cited the alliance with AAP and the unilateral decisions made by AICC Delhi in-charge Deepak Babria as reasons for his resignation. His resignation follows that of former Delhi minister and AICC member Rajkumar Chauhan.

Reacting to the development, the Delhi BJP remarked that this "explosion" began when the Congress started naming candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, while the AAP stated that it is an internal matter of the Congress.

Lovely, in his resignation letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, expressed his inability to protect the interests of the party workers and thus saw no reason to continue in his post.

He mentioned his disagreement with the alliance with AAP, criticising North East Delhi candidate Kanhaiya Kumar for praising Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Lovely claimed that such statements contradict the party line and the beliefs of local party workers.

Lovely also accused AICC in-charge Deepak Babria of vetoing all unanimous decisions taken by senior Delhi Congress leaders and forcing him to suspend senior party members.