The Congress on Tuesday appointed former MLA Devender Yadav as interim president of its Delhi unit, days after Arvinder Singh Lovely resigned from the post while criticising the alliance with AAP and statements of Congress 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.
Speaking to PTI, Yadav said, "The strategy is clear. We will consider everyone's suggestions. First, we will listen to them and will come up with a good strategy."
He stated that many senior colleagues are working in the Delhi Congress and contributing to the party.
"We face problems several times and the only solution is dialogue. I am glad to hold conversations with several fellow workers who had some issues. I am looking forward to meeting more fellow workers to have such discussions and I will reach out to them to find a solution," Yadav said.
Yadav said that he has the blessings of his seniors in the party and will work on the path shown by them.
The development comes as the Congress and AAP prepare for the May 25 election to the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.
Senior Congress leader and former DPCC chief Ajay Maken noted that Yadav has a background of an "MLA, councillor, grassroots worker, and outstanding organiser"
"He's the right choice, and I wish him success in his new role," he said on X.
In an apparent swipe at Lovely, Maken said, "In politics, things don't always go our way. Sometimes, our desires remain unfulfilled, our voices unheard—yet, does this justify undermining the very organisation that defines our political identity? Should we repeatedly inflict harm on our organisation for personal gains?"
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.
