New Delhi: It’s a “lovely” moment for the Congress with Sheila Dikshit loyalist Arvinder Singh Lovely back in the party after quitting it in April 2017 to join the BJP.
The four-time MLA jumping ship in 2017 came as a huge setback for the Congress coming as it was after the humiliating loss in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and the 2015 Delhi polls where the party even failed to open its account.
When he quit, Lovely had called Sheila a “burden on the Congress and said Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken was “lazy and too soaked in comfort”.
It seems the Congress has shifted its strategy after Rahul Gandhi’s elevation to the party president. Rahul has sent out the message that the doors of the party are open. He has made it clear that winning elections is the key and infighting needs to stop and those who can be wooed back.
This was reflected in Gujarat when Rahul insisted that all camps must get together. And recently in Delhi when bitter foes but once friends Sheila and Maken shared the stage. Maken met Sheila earlier inviting her to campaign for the party.
During the Lok Sabha polls and Delhi elections, there was no love lost between Maken and Sheila. She had openly blamed Maken for the party’s poor showing while Maken said her era was over. But faced with an aggressive BJP and AAP and other regional parties, Rahul has made it clear that no camps will be tolerated.
Hence the sharing of stage. Lovely had quit the party after he was replaced by Maken as Delhi unit chief. He was miffed when his suggestions were not incorporated while distributing tickets for the MCD polls. But joining the BJP also brought disappointment for Lovely as he was overshadowed by BJP leaders like Vijay Goel and Manoj Tiwari. That’s when Rahul asked state Congress leaders to reach out and soon Lovely did a “ghar waapsi.”
Sources within the party say this could be just the beginning. Rahul has asked Congress units in all states to begin mending fences, especially the ones going to polls soon.
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha are the next focus states. In Rajasthan, while Sachin Pilot was the main face Ashok Gehlot, the old warlord, was brought in too. This formula is expected to be replicated for polls in other states too.
Madhya Pradesh poses a problem though with several camps — Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijaya Singh. Getting them all together will be a challenge But Rahul is hoping for a lovely moment there too.
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