The move comes days after Sheila Dikshit made a public appearance with DPCC chief Ajay Maken
The Congress party got back its senior leader Arvinder Singh Lovely on Saturday. Lovely had joined the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in April, 2017. The development comes few days after former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit made an appearance with Delhi Congress Unit chief Ajay Maken showing solidarity in their fight against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
"I was an ideological misfit in the BJP. I realised this within a day of joining the party. I was never happy there. The Congress has been my party and I have been a part of it from the beginning. How could I be happy after leaving it? The communication gap which had led to confusion between senior leaders has been sorted now," Singh told DNA
Singh held important portfolios such as education, tourism, urban development and transport as a minister.
Elected to the assembly from Gandhi Nagar seat for the first time in 1998, he had not lost a single election. He did not contest the 2015 elections when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won a brute majority.
The grand old party has got back the support from its veteran leaders who had earlier criticised the party's leadership during the MCD elections. "He spoke to me before taking the decision and I am very happy with his move. We welcome him to the party," Sheila Dikshit told DNA.
Dikshit was approached by Maken to collectively fight against the AAP government in the Capital. During the municipal elections in 2017, senior Congress leaders, including Dikshit, Haroon Yusuf, Dr AK Walia, and Sandeep Dikshit, had openly blamed the poor leadership for the disappointing results.
Delhi Congress Unit Chief Ajay Maken, too, recently took the blame for the dissent within the party. "It is my fault and I will correct it. Had we been together like this, we would have won the MCD elections," Maken had said. With the return of the senior leaders, Maken feels that the party will get back the lost support from the people of Delhi ."
"Many people from Delhi have been asking about our veteran leaders. Now, we have got all of them back and we will fight the AAP and the BJP together," he said.
PAST DEFECTION
- Arvinder Singh Lovely had quit Congress and joined the BJP in April last year. Ten Congress leaders, led by Lovely, had also defected to the BJP. Unhappy over the ticket distribution during the MCD elections, Lovely along with several senior Congress leaders had alleged that tickets were “sold” to the aspirants.
- Elected to the assembly from Gandhi Nagar seat for the first time in 1998, Lovely had not lost a single election. He did not contest the 2015 elections when AAP won a brute majority.
PORTFOLIOS HELD
During his earlier stint with the Congress, Lovely held important portfolios such as education, tourism, urban development and transport as a minister.
DPCC Ppresident Ajay Maken welcomes Lovely back to Congress folds
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