Turmoil within the INDIA bloc continued in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls as former Delhi Congress president and senior leader Arvinder Singh Lovely along with former Delhi Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan, former MLAs Neeraj Basoya, Naseeb Singh and Delhi youth Congress chief Amit Malik joined the BJP on Saturday. This will be the second innings of Lovely and Chauhan in the BJP while Basoya and Naseeb join the BJP first time.
The development will boost the BJP prospects as these leaders will help to consolidate votes in Sikh, Dalit and Gurjar communities in the seven seats in Delhi which go to polls on May 25. The shock resignations of Lovely, Chauhan, Basoya and Naseeb came as a major blow to the party in the Capital.
All the former Congress leaders slammed the Opposition party's alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi for the Lok Sabha polls as they joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and party general secretary Vinod Tawde.
Puri praised these leaders and said the BJP will utilise their services effectively.
Delhi Congress' interim chief Devender Yadav on Saturday described former party unit president Lovely, who joined the BJP, as an "opportunist". The Congress does not care about such people. It was strong before and will remain strong in the future, he said. Reacting to Lovely joining the BJP, Yadav said, "I put Arvinder Singh Lovely in the category of an opportunist person. This is not the first time that he has tried to sabotage the Congress."
"The party does not care much about such people. The Congress was strong before and will remain strong in the future as well.
This is their habit. Whenever there is a chance, he (Lovely) has tried to cheat and there is no place for cheaters in the party," he added.
Speaking to reporters after joining the saffron party, Lovely said he met his supporters and several Congress workers following his resignation, who urged him "not to sit at home but join a strong party to fight for the people of Delhi."
Lovely referred to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's speech where she had said that every drop of her blood is dedicated to the nation. "Indira ji ne bola tha mere khoon ka katra katra iss desh ke liye hai. Katre se Tukde Tukde pe aagye hain (Indira had said that every drop of her blood is dedicated to the nation. Now they are reduced to Tukde Tukde gang) Lovely, adding that he started feeling like a misfit in the party.
Lovely hailed the BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for giving him and his colleagues the opportunity to join the party when they felt lost. He asserted that Modi is set to retain power with a big majority in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. Lovely had recently quit as the Delhi Congress president protesting the party's alliance with the AAP.
Earlier Lovely had made it clear that he has only quit the party post and not the party, although a section of the Congress leadership as well as AAP leaders believed that he would be joining the BJP again.
Lovely's resignation on April 28 was a setback to the party in terms of optics and perception. Coming four days after former Delhi Minister Rajkumar Chauhan quit the party, the resignation of Lovely, who has been heading the Delhi unit since August last year, has been a blow to the Congress's efforts for the May 25 elections in Delhi.
The Congress leaders from North East and Northwest Delhi were upset with their party's choice of candidates, including Kanhaiya Kumar and Udit Raj, in the national Capital for the elections.
Earlier, Lovely resigned from the Congress and joined the BJP in 2017. He, however, returned to the grand old party in 2018. After his induction into the BJP, Lovely exuded confidence that the party would sweep all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and win the national polls.
In his resignation letter sent to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday, Lovely also said that all unanimous decisions taken by the senior Delhi unit leaders have been "unilaterally vetoed" by AICC Delhi in-charge Deepak Babria. Lovely also claimed the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) was not given any intimation about the decision to field Kanhaiya Kumar from North East Delhi seat and Udit Raj from North West Delhi seat before the official announcement was made by the party high command.
Chauhan said the AAP Government has pushed the city backwards after all the "development" seen earlier, a reference to the Congress Government headed by Sheila Dikshit.
A four-time MLA from Mangolpuri assembly segment, Chauhan was a Minister in Sheila Dikshit's Cabinet for 13 years and held several important portfolios, including PWD and urban development, is from Dalit community and his presence will help the BJP candidate Yogendra Chandoliya who is contesting from North West Seat against the India Alliance candidate Udit Raj here.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said no one can stand with those who have "looted" the city as he welcomed them to his party.
Chauhan had lost the 2013 and 2015 polls to AAP's Rakhi Birla. Chauhan had resigned from the party in 2019 and joined the BJP but within a month he returned to the Congress.
Under the seat-sharing pact, AAP will fight on four seats -- South Delhi, New Delhi, West Delhi and East Delhi -- and Congress three -- Northwest Delhi, Northeast Delhi and Chandni Chowk. Lok Sabha elections on seven seats of Delhi will be held on May 25.
