Arvinder Singh Lovely Rejoins Congress After Meeting Rahul Gandhi

Lovely, who joined the Narrative Janata Party (BJP) in 2017 just days before the crucial municipal polls, met Congress president Rahul Gandhi at his residence on Saturday.

Written by: Priyanka Rathi

Updated: February 17, 2018, 12:52 PM IST

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https://www.india.com/news/india/arvinder-singh-lovely-rejoins-congress-after-meeting-rahul-gandhi-2899293/ Copy

New Delhi, Feb 17: After a brief nine-month stay with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), senior leader Arvinder Singh Lovely returned to the Congress on Saturday. Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken confirmed Lovely’s ‘ghar wapsi’ after the former education minister met party president Rahul Gandhi at his residence earlier today. Ajay Maken and  state in charge PC Chacko were also present during the meeting.

#Delhi: ‘Arvinder Singh Lovely has re-joined Congress’ says Ajay Maken. Lovely had joined BJP from Congress nine months back. pic.twitter.com/NqUwDZMptN

— ANI (@ANI) 17 February 2018

Talking to reporters after rejoining the Congress, Lovely said he took the decision to leave Congress and join the BJP in ” pain” but didn’t elaborate more over it. Lovely added that ‘ideologically’ he was a misfit in the BJP. “Mere liye koi khushi ka nirnay (leaving Congress, joining BJP) nahi tha. Peedha mein liya hua decision tha woh. Ideologically main wahaan (BJP) misfit tha,”  Lovely said.

The development comes a couple of days after Maken and former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit presented a ‘report card’ of the Arvind Kejriwal government which completed three years in power. According to sources,  Lovely,  who is considered close to Sheila Dikshit had put a few pre-conditions for him to return to the party fold.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi welcomes Arvinder Singh Lovely back into the Congress family. @ArvinderLovely pic.twitter.com/BiycSXkeJK

— Congress (@INCIndia) February 17, 2018

Lovely, who joined the BJP just days before the municipal elections last year,  has never lost an election since he was elected to the Delhi Assembly for the first time in 1998. In 2013, he won from Gandhi Nagar constituency but didn’t contest in 2015.

Lovely has had a long association of 31 years with the Congress before joining the BJP in 2017. He even held the post of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president.