Ex-Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely rejoins party after nine months, says he was an 'ideological misfit' in BJP

Former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely on Saturday rejoined the party months after he quit to join the BJP. Lovely, who was a former minister in the Sheila Dikshit-led government, met party chief Rahul Gandhi at his residence along with Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken earlier.

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

— Congress (@INCIndia) February 17, 2018

He was welcomed back into the party by AICC incharge of Delhi unit PC Chacko along with Maken. Lovely’s joining the Congress was announced at a press conference held in New Delhi on Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_4355419” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Congress president Rahul Gandhi with Arvinder Singh Lovely. Twitter @INCIndia[/caption] According to  The Times of India, he had been an MLA from East Delhi’s Gandhinagar and had improved the Congress party’s performance in the East Delhi parliamentary constituency represented by former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s son, Sandeep. Lovely had joined the BJP nine months ago. He felt he was an “ideological misfit” in the saffron party. “At that time (when I joined BJP), I had also said that it was not a happy decision for me. It was a weak moment for me. But then after, I had a chat with Ajay Maken and we sorted out the differences,” he said at the press conference. “Ideologically, I was a misfit in the BJP,”  The Indian Express quoted him as saying. According to News18, the former Delhi Congress chief’s return is seen as a bolster for the party ahead of the Delhi bypolls where 20 seats are up for grabs. The bypolls were necessitated after the Election Commission recommended the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs for holding office of profit while serving as parliamentary secretaries, the report added. With inputs from PTI