Jolt To Congress, Delhi Unit Chief Quits Post

Congress leader Arvinder Singh Lovely today resigned as the chief of the party's Delhi unit over its alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the announcement of the candidature of Kanhaiya Kumar and Udit Raj, Congress leaders, workers consider them as "outsiders".

The Delhi Congress workers protested against Kanhaiya Kumar, the party's candidate from the North East Delhi seat, soon after state Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely resigned. The party workers stood outside Kanhaiya Kumar's newly inaugurated office, holding black posters with "need local candidate not outsider" written on them.

Mr Lovely- in a letter to Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge - said that since he cannot protect the interests of the Delhi Congress workers, he sees no reason to continue as the chief of the city's party unit.

"The Delhi Congress Unit was against an alliance with a party (AAP) which was formed on the sole basis of leveling false, fabricated and malafide corruption charges against the Congress. Despite that, the party made a decision to ally with the AAP in Delhi," he said.

He also said the party gave Lok Sabha tickets to candidates who were "total strangers" to the Delhi Congress unit, referring to Udit Raj's candidature in North-west Delhi and Kanhaiya Kumar in Northeast Delhi. 

The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress had agreed to a 4:3 seat-sharing formula for Delhi earlier this year to put up a joint fight in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge instructed party General Secretary KC Venugopal to talk to Arvinder Singh Lovely and find a way to resolve the Delhi Congress crisis, told party sources.