Arvinder Singh Lovely (second from left) said he did not agree with the working style of the party candidates. | Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO
A day after Arvinder Singh Lovely quit as the Delhi Congress chief, the leader said he holds no grudge against the party, but his decision was propelled by the current system under which it is being run.
“I couldn’t give my 100% as chief due to issues over its functioning. The party should appoint someone else who can deal with the system that the party has in place,” Mr. Lovely said, reiterating that he is not quitting the Congress.
Mr. Lovely had resigned on Sunday, alleging that he was not being allowed to “function” and questioned the seat-sharing pact with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Lok Sabha poll and party tickets to “outsiders”.
According to sources, discontent has been brewing in the party ever since it entered into a seat-sharing pact with AAP against the wishes of the local Congress leadership.
Tensions escalated after the Congress fielded Udit Raj, a BJP turncoat, from North West Delhi and Kanhaiya Kumar from North East Delhi.
‘Unilaterally vetoed’
In a four-page letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Mr. Lovely also said he found himself “handicapped and unable to continue” as all unanimous decisions taken by the local unit were being “unilaterally vetoed” by All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge for Delhi, Deepak Babaria.
The leader, however, said he does not know how his letter got leaked to the media.
Mr. Lovely also clarified that has no issues with the choice of candidates for the Lok Sabha poll but disagreed with their working style, which confused party workers ahead of the May 25 polling in the city.
“A party candidate displayed a picture of [Delhi Chief Minister] Arvind Kejriwal on his campaign posters in large size instead of Congress leaders. How will party workers identify and work with the party if this is being done?” he said.
“The candidate was also praising Mr. Kejriwal, which is against the party line. The local unit should have some say on the party line,” Mr. Lovely said.
Meanwhile, AAP’s Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh credited Mr. Lovely with playing a crucial role in forging the Congress-AAP alliance in the Capital.
He thanked Mr. Lovely for coming to the Delhi Chief Minister’s residence to show support when he was arrested last month by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2021-22.
“I say this with responsibility that Mr. Lovely played a crucial role in our alliance with the Congress. I am not aware of the reasons for his contrary views now,” Mr. Singh said.
Reacting to it, the former Delhi Congress president said the AAP leader was not present at the meeting he attended over seat sharing. “Mr. Singh was in jail. So, I don’t know how he is crediting me with sealing the alliance,” he said.
The Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance bloc partners AAP and Congress are fighting the poll together in Delhi in a 4-3 seat-sharing arrangement.
‘He has done nothing’
A day after he was accused of disrespecting Congress workers, Mr. Raj accused Mr. Lovely of running the Delhi unit in a way that “promoted factionalism and favouritism”.
“What has he done for the party? He was a Minister for 15 years in the past but did nothing when the party was struggling. People will come and go as the Congress is a big party,” the Congress leader added.
