Arvinder Singh Lovely joining BJP is ‘betrayal’ of Congress, says Sheila Dikshit

Singh held important portfolios such as education, tourism, urban development and transport as a Congress minister. Elected to the assembly from Gandhi Nagar seat for the first time in 1998, he had not lost a single election.

Leaving the Congress when its days are not going “as pleasant” is a “betrayal”, former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday said after the party’s former Delhi unit chief Arvinder Singh Lovely joined the BJP.

Former DPCC president Arvinder Singh Lovely joined the BJP on Tuesday. (PTI Photo)

Terming it as “sad”, Dikshit said Lovely got political “honour and respect” from the grand old party and was not only a minister but also the party’s Delhi chief.

“Its a sad news. He got political honour and respect from Congress and was not only a minister but was also made Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president.

“He has left Congress when its days are not as pleasant as they used to be once. I think this a betrayal,” Dikshit told a news channel.

Her remarks come after the former Delhi Congress president joined the BJP on Tuesday lashing out at the leadership of his former party, which he said has “died” under them.

A key minister in the erstwhile Dikshit government in Delhi, Lovely raked up allegations of bribery in ticket distribution for the MCD polls by the Congress and claimed after meeting BJP chief Amit Shah that many senior Congress leaders are feeling “suffocated” as the party is no longer what it used to be.

“The child is dead. Congress is finished,” he told reporters, expressing his unhappiness with its leadership, including party vice president Rahul Gandhi.