Arvinder Lovely, Now A BJP Man, Reacts To Ex-Boss Ajay Maken's Tears

New Delhi: Arvinder Singh Lovely, BJP leader as of 24 hours ago, says he's unmoved by the news of former boss Ajay Maken breaking down during a TV interview while discussing Mr Lovely's opting out of the Congress.

"When I was crying, he did not come to hear me out," said Mr Lovely, whose move to the BJP comes just a week ahead of crucial elections in Delhi and will see him campaigning for his new party.

The 48-year-old said that Mr Maken, who heads the Congress in Delhi, virtually drove him into the waiting arms of its main political opponent. "He did not even call us for campaigning, not for the manifesto release. He just wiped us off"

Mr Lovely was with the Congress for 30 years. He contested in four elections to the Delhi assembly and won each one of them, and was a minister in Sheila Dikshit's government. He however, hadn't contested in 2015, when the Congress lost all the seats they contested in.
 On Sunday, Delhi will vote for its three municipal corporations. The election will be used as a mid-term check of Mr Kejriwal's popularity, as well as to check the Congress' pulse. In a by-election to a state assembly seat earlier this month, the Aam Aadmi party placed last; the seat was won by the BJP, but the Congress celebrated what Mr Maken described as its return since it was runner up.

In selecting candidates for the coming election, Mr Maken has upset other top Congress leaders like AK Walia, also a former minister, who resigned earlier this month.

Mr Lovely says the Congress should expect more farewells. "People are hurt and they have been humiliated, and when they develop a spine, they will quit," he forecast.