NEW DELHI : Barely 20 days before polling in Delhi, Arvinder Singh Lovely, who recently stepped down from the post of Delhi Congress president, joined the BJP on Saturday along with four other party leaders.
“We are connected to people in all 70 Delhi Assembly constituencies. After resigning, I thought of sitting at home with honesty, but all of them said that I should join a strong party to fight for Delhi and the country,” Lovely said after joining the saffron ranks.
He said it was not just five of them but a long queue of Congress people, “who have already decided.... to fight for the people of Delhi in coming days. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief JP Nadda. The new BJP entrant thanked the top leadership and stated that PM Modi gave them an opportunity when they were “politically lost.”
The four others who joined the saffron party, in the presence of Union Minister Hardeep Puri, included former Congress MLAs — Rajkumar Chauhan, Neeraj Basoya, Naseeb Singh — and Delhi youth Congress chief Amit Malik. While Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva welcomed the Congress leaders into the party, presenting them with saffron scarves, and flower bouquets, and issuing them BJP membership slips, Minister Puri stated that the popularity of these dignitaries joining the BJP is undeniable, and their inclusion will no doubt strengthen BJP in Delhi.
“AAP has done nothing for the development of Delhi during its tenure, leading to deteriorating conditions,” said Puri. In the elections, not only will BJP win, but will also take significant steps for Delhi’s development.” Lovely joined the BJP in 2017 but returned to Congress soon. He was appointed the president of the Delhi unit of the Congress in August 2023, replacing Anil Chaudhary. The Congress has not been able to win even a single Assembly election or a seat in the Lok Sabha for a decade now.
Sharp attrition in Cong camp
Lovely joined BJP in 2017 but returned to Congress soon. He became the city unit chief in 2023. Congress has not won any Assembly election or an LS seat for a decade now.
Lovely said it was not just 5 of them but a long queue of others, “who have decided to fight for Delhi. He thanked PM Modi at a time when they were “politically lost.”
Delhi Congress’ interim chief Devender Yadav described Lovely as an “opportunist.” “The party doesn’t care about such people. This is not the first time he has tried to sabotage the Congress,” he said.