New Delhi: Arvinder Singh Lovely takes charge as Congress Delhi chief

New Delhi : Newly-appointed Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Arvinder Singh Lovely formally took charge on Thursday. He said reviving the party in the national capital and fixing its organisational structure are among his first priorities.

Deepak Babaria, the Congress’ Delhi in-charge, and Ajay Maken, Subhash Chopra, Jai Prakash Agarwal and Anil Chaudhary -- former chiefs of the party’s state unit -- were present at the programme. Congress Working Committee members Manish Chatrath and Devender Yadav, former MPs Krishna Tirath, Sandeep Dikshit and Parvesh Hashmi were also present. After taking charge, Lovely asserted that the party will fight against the “corruption” of the ruling parties and raise issues that affect the common people.

“I will do my best to live up to the expectations of the high command. I assure everyone that we will work shoulder-to-shoulder with every worker to consolidate the party,” Lovely said. Lovely was first elected as an MLA in 1998 from Gandhi Nagar. He worked closely with former chief minister, the late Shiela Dikshit.

He served as transport, education, urban development and revenue minister in the Congress dispensation in Delhi. He has also previously served as the party’s Delhi unit chief. Lovely was fielded against the BJP’s Gautam Gambhir and the AAP’s Atishi from the East Delhi constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.