Arvinder Singh Lovely appointed Cong's Delhi unit chief, says priority is to strengthen party

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday appointed Arvinder Singh Lovely as the chief of its Delhi unit, replacing Anil Chaudhary.

Continuing his organizational rejig in the state units, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge appointed Lovely, a former minister in the Sheila Dikshit government, to head the party's unit in the national capital.

Talking to PTI after his appointment, Lovely thanked Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and the entire party leadership. "I have to strengthen the Congress in Delhi," he said.

People are fed up with the government at the Centre and are in favour of Rahul Gandhi. Our former party presidents have worked hard and people are working to strengthen the Congress, Lovely said.

Asked about the INDIA alliance in which both the Congress and the AAP are members and the challenges ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, he said, "My role is just to strengthen the Congress and raise the voices of the people of Delhi." "The decision on how we will fight the elections and with whom we will fight will be taken by the party high command. I have no role in it. The Delhi Congress will accept whatever the high command says," he added.

Lovely, an old Congress hand, had joined the BJP in 2017 but came back to the Congress fold just months after quitting the grand old party.

The party appreciated the contribution of the outgoing Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Anil Chaudhary, according to a statement issued by AICC general secretary in-charge KC Venugopal.