Congress appoints Devender Yadav as interim president of Delhi unit

Yadav was elected as an MLA from the Badli assembly constituency in Delhi from 2008-2013 and was re-elected in 2013

Former Delhi MLA and Punjab Congress in-charge Devender Yadav was on Tuesday appointed as the interim president of Delhi Congress, two days after Arvinder Singh Lovely resigned from the post citing internal conflicts, issues with the Aam Aadmi Party-Congress alliance and the fielding of ‘outsider’ candidates from Lok Sabha constituencies in the national capital.

Congress leader Devender Yadav with party national president Mallikarjun Kharge. (Photo from X)

All India Congress Committee general secretary KC Venugopal made the announcement through a press statement.

Yadav was elected as an MLA from the Badli assembly constituency in Delhi from 2008-2013 and was re-elected in 2013. However, he lost to AAP’s Ajesh Yadav in the 2015 assembly elections.

Ironing out differences within the party, which arose after Kanhaiya Kumar was fielded from North East Delhi and former MP Udit Raj was given a ticket from North West Delhi, and leading the party into the Lok Sabha polls are key the challenges before Yadav.

As per the AAP-Congress deal, AAP is contesting from New Delhi, East Delhi, West Delhi, and South Delhi seats, while Congress is contesting from North East Delhi, Chandni Chowk, and North West Delhi.

Lovely, who sent his resignation letter to Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge on April 27, said party leaders did not care about the simmering conflicts, and instead of pacifying disgruntled leaders after ‘outsiders’ were fielded as party candidates in the Lok Sabha polls, attempts were being made to sack them. Talking to HT, Lovely flagged several issues affecting the AAP-Congress alliance.

The developments came as a blow to both the Congress and the alliance that is fighting to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party, which currently holds all seven seats in the city.