Arvinder Singh Lovely Resigns from Delhi Congress Chief Post, cites dissatisfaction with AAP alliance

Arvinder Singh Lovely Resigns from Delhi Congress Chief Post: He cited the alliance with AAP as his reason for resigning from his position as Congress city president.

Lovely wrote to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge that he felt "handicapped" and unable to continue as the Delhi Congress unit's president.

Deepak Babaria, the Congress's general secretary in charge for Delhi, was criticized by party leaders several times, he said.

In addition, Lovely said he was under "tremendous pressure" to expel Babaria's critics.

Arvinder Singh Lovely resigns from the position of Delhi Congress president.

"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,… https://t.co/Y1A360fuut pic.twitter.com/hLP9RtnzUE

— ANI (@ANI) April 28, 2024

"Since my appointment as DPCC President, the AICC General Secretary (Delhi In-charge) has not allowed me to make any senior appointments in the DPCC. My request for the appointment of a veteran leader as Media head of DPCC was blatantly rejected. To date, the AICC General Secretary (Delhi In-charge) has not allowed the DPCC to appoint all Block presidents in the city. Resultantly more than 150 blocks in Delhi do not presently have a Block President," he said.

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According to Lovely, the entire state unit opposed the Congress's alliance with the AAP in Delhi for the Lok Sabha elections.

"The Delhi Congress Unit was against forming an alliance with a party which was formed on the sole basis of levelling false, fabricated and malafide corruption charges against the Congress party, and in turn, whose half of the cabinet ministers are in jail on corruption charges," he wrote in the letter, calling the alliance a "compromise" to improve Congress chances of victory.

As much as Lovely respected the party's alliance with AAP, he was upset by Kanhaiya Kumar's praise for AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.

"The candidate from North East Delhi has also been giving media bytes falsely praising the Delhi CM, in direct contravention of the party line and local party workers' beliefs," Lovely said.

In the alliance, the Congress was given three Lok Sabha seats, of which two - North West and North East - were allotted to "total strangers".

Congress-AAP joint candidate Udit Raj is running in North West Delhi, while Kanhaiya Kumar is running in North East Delhi.

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The announcement of Raj and Kumar as candidates triggered an uproar and protests by Delhi Congress leaders and workers, according to Arvinder Singh Lovely.

Further, he said that despite his attempts to pacify the situation, Deepak Babaria repeatedly asked him to expel the disgruntled leaders.

Also, Lovely mentioned derogatory remarks made by Udit Raj and bytes given to the media by Kanhaiya Kumar.

"Since I cannot protect the interests of the party workers, I see no reason to continue in the said post," Lovely wrote in his resignation letter.

He served in several ministerial capacities under former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. In April 2017, he joined the BJP, but after nine months, moved back to the Congress.

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