A huge setback to the Congress in the ongoing seven-phase Lok Sabha elections with the Delhi unit chief Arvinder Singh Lovely resigning from the party post amid the schedule of the Delhi State assembly elections on May 25.
In a four-page letter to party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Arvinder Singh Lovely broached his frustration at the working of the Congress.
He said, “All unanimous decisions taken by the senior Delhi Congress leaders have been unilaterally vetoed by the AICC general secretary (Delhi in-charge). Since my appointment as DPCC president, the AICC general secretary 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 AICC general secretary has not allowed the DPCC to appoint all block presidents in the city resultantly more than 150 blocks in Delhi do not presently have block presidents.”
He was frustrated with the party's decision to form an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party in the national capital. He said, “The Delhi Congress unit was against an alliance with a party, which was formed on the sole basis of levelling false fabricated and mala fide corruption charges against the Congress party and in turn whose half the cabinet minister is currently in jail on corruption charges. Despite that, the party decided to ally with AAP in Delhi.”
He was also disappointed at the Congress party in Delhi's decision to field people who knew little about the Delhi Congress or its policies to fight for the Lok Sabha elections. He said he had opted out of the race to ensure senior Congress leaders got the tickets, but that was not heeded, and tickets were being handed out to candidates who did not know much about the Delhi Congress or its policies.
He nominated Jai Prakash Agarwal, Udit Raj, and Kanhaiya Kumar for three Delhi constituencies. Notably, Agarwal has immense electoral experience, having won Chandni Chowk thrice earlier.
Arvinder Singh Lovely narrated the agitation that followed the announcement of the three candidates and how he was forced to suspend some of the leaders. Although he was a supporter of democratic dissent in the party, the general secretary of the AICC asked him to suspend some of the party leaders.
In addition, he mourned the abusive exchanges that took place in the public meetings between the AICC general secretary and the prominent leaders of the party, aggravating the rift within the party.
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