Arvinder Singh Lovely, Four Others, Join BJP Days After Quitting Congress
Lovely resigned from his post as Delhi president of the grand old party on Sunday, citing the alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as his reason (Image: PTI)
Days after quitting the post of Delhi Congress chief, Arvinder Singh Lovely joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday. Four other former Congress leaders– including Rajkumar Chauhan, Naseeb Singh, Neeraj Basoya and Amit Malik– switched sides along with Lovely at the ceremony held at BJP headquarters in New Delhi today.
Lovely thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “the opportunity to work for the people of Delhi.”
“We have been given an opportunity to fight for the people of Delhi under the banner of BJP and under the leadership of Prime Minister,” he said.
“I have full hope and there is no doubt about it that the BJP government is being formed in the country with an overwhelming majority. In the coming days, the flag of the BJP will fly in Delhi too,” the former Congress leader added.
Lovely had earlier joined the BJP in 2017 but returned to the Congress fold.
The Delhi Congress unit has been beset with intense turmoil and infighting, as the city leaders are miffed over the alliance with AAP and the high command giving preference to ‘outsiders’ over local leadership, in ticket allotment for Lok Sabha polls and other party’s affairs.
Lovely, who was appointed as the chief of the Congress Delhi unit last year, resigned from the post on Sunday, setting off speculation about a crossover to the BJP.
It also followed a series of exits including a couple of well-known names like Naseeb Singh and Neeraj Basoya, both former Delhi legislators.
Rajkumar Chauhan, the former Delhi minister and the All India Congress Committee (AICC) member also resigned from the party last month after the Delhi Congress’ disciplinary committee objected to his ‘dissent’ to the party line.
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