Arvinder Lovely’s decision will have no bearing on AAP-Congress prospects in Delhi, say Congress leaders

Arvinder Lovely’s decision will have no bearing on AAP-Congress prospects in Delhi, say Congress leaders

As senior leaders of Congress and Aam Aadmi Party firm up campaign strategy in Delhi, former Delhi Congress President Arvinder Singh Lovely’s resignation has once again turned the focus on the viability of the alliance of the two key INDIA bloc constituents in the national capital.

On Wednesday, two key Pradesh Congress leaders and observers for two Lok Sabha seats in the national capital Neeraj Basoya and Naseeb Singh resigned citing differences over appointment of interim Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav and party’s alliance with Aam Aadmi Party. Lovely quit as Delhi Congress chief on April 28.

Congress appoints interim Pradesh Congress chief

The Congress on April 30 appointed former MLA Devender Yadav as interim president of its Delhi unit, two days after Arvinder Singh Lovely resigned from the post while criticising the alliance with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and statements of the party’s candidates in the national capital.  Yadav, who won from the Badli assembly constituency in Delhi in 2008 and 2013 and lost to Ajesh Yadav of AAP in 2015, is currently the All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) Punjab in-charge.

A senior party functionary, on condition of anonymity told Moneycontrol that the very fact that the High Command was quick to appoint an interim party chief in Delhi signifies the seriousness attached to the upcoming parliamentary polls in Delhi. Media reports suggesting a rift within the Pradesh Congress are untrue. There was a small faction who had voiced their discontent along with Arvinder Singh Lovely, but now they are toeing the party line.

‘Lovely’s decision driven by personal ambition’

Speaking to Moneycontrol, Anil Chaudhary, former president of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee said Arvinder Lovely wanted to contest the election from Delhi. His decision to quit from the post of Pradesh Congress chief was singularly driven by his personal electoral ambitions. The reasons cited by him in his letter are certainly untrue. He was privy to all important decisions taken by the party in Delhi and played a pivotal role in shaping the alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi.

Speaking on the contents of the resignation letter, he said, if Lovely truly wanted to represent the party workers as his resignation letter claimed to show the “pain” of Congress workers who were upset that the ideals they had been fighting for during the last seven to eight years were being compromised, then why did he not voice their concern in the meeting called by Mallikarjun Kharge and K. C. Venugopal to take a final call on the alliance with AAP.

Notably, Arvinder Singh Lovely had rejected the claims that he resigned from his post due to unhappiness over ticket distribution.

‘Decision to tie-up with AAP purely electoral in nature’

The former Pradesh Congress chief added that the decision to forge an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi was a conscious one. The DPCC leaders and workers were taken into confidence before forging the alliance with the AAP. “He (Lovely) was part of all the committees and panels; he should have raised his objections back then.

This episode will have a negative impact on the AAP-Congress alliance in Assembly segments such as Tilak Nagar, Hari Nagar, Rajouri Garden, Laxmi Nagar, Civil Lines, and Jangpura, just to name a few which come under the West Delhi, North East Delhi, and Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seats.

Assuring the electorate

There are murmurs as to whether Lovely stepping down from the post would hurt the Congress-AAP alliance in Delhi and dent its electoral prospects. I want to assure all Congress supporters and Delhi’s electorate that the alliance (AAP-Congress) in Delhi will perform exceedingly well. Congress cadres are very enthused and are doing their best to enable the party win in three seats that its contesting and also campaign for our alliance partner (AAP) in Delhi, said Ariba Khan, Congress Councillor from Abul Fazal Enclave in Jamia Nagar.

Dispelling speculations regarding the dissatisfaction with the party workers on the alliance with the AAP, she added that initially there were reservation from certain quarters as both the parties are the principal Opposition in the state, but the workers have accepted the High Command’s decision as it is for a bigger purpose.

Arvinder Lovely was privy to all important decisions and he never voices his discontent about the election. Why is it that less than a month before the all-crucial polling in Delhi, he has written a letter to the Congress President. AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh also reiterated that Lovely himself played a crucial role in the formation of the alliance between the two parties in the capital and thanked him for his efforts, observed the Congress councilor.