Will take everyone along to revive party: Delhi Cong chief Arvinder Singh Lovely

Newly appointed Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely on Thursday said he will take everyone, including his predecessors, along to revive the party in the national capital. Speaking to PTI, Lovely said the party will focus on fixing the organisational structure and also reach out to the people of Delhi.

Lovely, a former minister in the Sheila Dikshit government, was appointed the Delhi Congress chief earlier on Thursday, replacing Anil Chaudhary.

"My role now is to strengthen the whole party organisation in Delhi. People have started looking up to Rahul Gandhi and the Congress," Lovely said.


"We will take each and every leader, including the previous presidents, along and work unitedly to revive the party. We will focus on what's missing and also reach out to the people of Delhi," he told PTI.

"Just like Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of inflation through the Bharat Jodo Yatra across the country, we will also raise pertinent issues. We just need to fix the organisational structure first," he added.

On the Congress' plans for forging an alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Lovely said the party's central leadership will take a call on it.

"Whatever the high command decides, we will abide by it. Delhi Congress leaders have put forth their opinions in the meetings that were held previously," Lovely said.

In both the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won all seven seats in Delhi.

The Congress also drew a blank in the 2015 and 2020 Delhi Assembly polls, which were swept by the AAP.

Lovely was first elected as an MLA in 1998 from Gandhi Nahar. He served as the minister of Transport, Education, Urban Development and Revenue in the Congress government in Delhi. He is also a former president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC).

The Congress had fielded Lovely against BJP's Gautam Gambhir and AAP's Atishi from the East Delhi constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.