DNA Micro edit: Arvinder Lovely's exit should be a wake-up call for Congress

Dissent and infighting is not rare within a political party. But former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely's exit from the party should trigger an alarm in the party. Not only was Lovely a bankable face but was also a Gandhi family loyalist.

There is serious introspection needed and the Congress needs to take some tough calls. After all the party ruled Delhi for 15 years under the leadership of Shiela Dikshit.

What went wrong with the grand old party that the loyalists have started feeling suffocated and are willingly joining the rival camp against whom them they were holding the torch for 20 long years?

Lovely joining BJP and accusing the current leaders of making the party 'dead' has not only a strong message of dissidence against these leaders but also that all is not well under the leadership of the first family.

However, breaking away from the party that honoured and nurtured him as a political leader was not easy. He held back his tears in front of public after he heard that the current leader Ajay Maken against whom he revolted was aghast and broke down in a TV show.

The emotional outburst is understandable as the two leaders spent years together but one thing is for sure Lovely did not decide to shift his loyalty in one day or embrace a different ideology in spur of a moment.

It was a calculated decision and he was fully aware what will follow thereafter. Was is all for power and get the new patrons or was it sheer of frustration of being out of power?

It is hard to say as both the loyalists of first family did not mend their ways leading to huge crisis within the party that will further pave a way for mass exodus of loyalists from the party.