Delhi Congress gets interim chief in Devender Yadav

Congress appointed Devender Yadav as interim president of its Delhi unit, replacing Arvinder Singh Lovely who resigned criticizing the alliance with AAP. Yadav, the former MLA and current AICC's Punjab in-charge, vowed to uphold the party's ideology. The appointment comes before the crucial Lok Sabha elections in Delhi, where Congress is allied with AAP despite internal opposition. Lovely's resignation exposed factionalism within the Delhi Congress, with critics targeting AICC in-charge Deepak Babaria for alleged interference. However, Babaria dismissed such claims, while AAP termed it an internal matter for its ally.

The Congress on Tuesday appointed former MLA Devender Yadav as interim president of its Delhi unit, two days after Arvinder Singh Lovely resigned from the post while criticising the alliance with AAP and statements of the party's candidates in the national capital.

Yadav, who won from the Badli assembly constituency in Delhi in 2008 and 2013 and lost to Ajesh Yadav of AAP in 2015, is currently the All India Congress Committee's (AICC) Punjab in-charge.

''My heartfelt thanks to Sh Kharge ji, Smt Sonia Gandhi ji, Rahul Gandhi ji, KC Venugopal ji and Smt Priyanka Gandhi ji and all senior leaders of the Congress, for the faith they have bestowed in me yet again!'' Yadav said in a post on X.

''Will try my best to tread the coveted and ideological vision party has laid for me and give my 100 per cent!'' he said.

According to a statement issued by the party, ''Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has appointed Yadav as the interim president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) with immediate effect.'' Yadav will continue in his role as AICC in-charge for Punjab, the statement added.

The development comes as the Congress and AAP prepare for the May 25 election to the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.

In his resignation letter sent to the Congress president on Saturday, Lovely had said that he found himself ''handicapped'' as all unanimous decisions taken by senior Delhi unit leaders were ''unilaterally vetoed'' by the AICC's Delhi in-charge Deepak Babaria.

The Delhi Congress unit was against the alliance with AAP but the party high command went ahead with it, Lovely had said as his resignation brought to the fore the party's factional feud.

He had also criticised Congress candidates -- Kanhaiya Kumar from North East Delhi and Udit Raj from North West Delhi -- for their statements and said tickets were given to two people who were total strangers to the Delhi Congress and party policies.

With a section of leaders demanding the removal of Babaria, the AICC Delhi in-charge had said it was ''unfortunate'' that Lovely's resignation came at a time when the general elections were underway but asserted that it wouldn't affect the Congress while AAP termed it an internal matter of its ally.

The BJP said it was an ''unnatural alliance'' forged by the leadership of AAP and Congress to ''shield their corruption'' but their party workers had not accepted it.

Lovely resigned from the post of Delhi Congress president in 2015 as well. He joined the BJP in 2017 but returned to the Congress about nine months later.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)