 "Arvinder Singh Lovely")
Arvinder Singh Lovely, who recently stepped down from his position as Delhi Congress president in opposition to the party’s alliance with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, formally became a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday.
In a ceremony hosted at the BJP headquarters in the national capital, Lovely was welcomed into the party by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, and the party’s national general secretary Vinod Tawde. Alongside Lovely, former Congress MLAs Raj Kumar Chauhan, Naseeb Singh, Neeraj Basoya, and former Youth Congress President Amit Malik also joined the BJP.
Lovely had previously switched allegiance to the BJP in 2017 before returning to the Congress in 2018. Now, with his latest move to the BJP, he expressed confidence in the party’s prospects in the ongoing elections.
Speaking to media persons, Lovely voiced his belief in the BJP’s ability to secure victory on all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, asserting that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the party would form the government with a decisive mandate.
“We have been given an opportunity to fight for the people of Delhi under the banner of BJP and under the leadership of the Prime Minister. 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,” he said.
In his resignation letter addressed to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Lovely cited his discontent with the party’s decision-making process, particularly criticizing the selection of candidates like Kanhaiya Kumar and Udit Raj for the Delhi constituencies. He also expressed frustration with the interference from the party's general secretary and the alliance with AAP in Delhi.
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Naseeb Singh and Neeraj Basoya, in their resignation letters, also denounced the Congress’s alliance with AAP.
The seat-sharing agreement between AAP and Congress allocates four seats to AAP and three to Congress in Delhi. Lok Sabha elections for the seven seats in Delhi are scheduled for May 25.
Lovely’s induction into the BJP sparked pointed remarks from party leader Vinod Tawde. Tawde took a dig at Rahul Gandhi’s candidacy from the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, suggesting a dynastic trend within the Congress party.
“Raebareli had posters of Priyanka Gandhi. Congress workers wanted her to fight from Raebareli. But, Rahul Gandhi came and filed his nomination from Raebareli. PM Modi’s slogan is ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’. But Congress’ slogan is ‘Beta Bachao, Beta Badhao’,” Tawde said.
