Congress appoints Devender Yadav as interim chief of Delhi unit
New Delhi, Apr 30: The Congress on Tuesday appointed former MLA Devender Yadav as interim president of its Delhi unit, days after Arvinder Singh Lovely resigned from the post while criticising the alliance with AAP and statements of Congress candidates in the national capital.
Yadav, who won from the Badli assembly constituency in Delhi in 2008 and 2013 and lost to Ajesh Yadav of AAP in 2015, is currently the All India Congress Committee's (AICC) Punjab in-charge.
"My heartfelt thanks to Sh Kharge ji, Smt Sonia Gandhi ji, Rahul Gandhi ji, KC Venugopal ji and Smt Priyanka Gandhi ji and all senior leaders of the Congress, for the faith they have bestowed in me yet again!" Yadav said in a post on X.
"Will try my best to tread the coveted and ideological vision party has laid for me and give my 100 per cent!" he said.
According to a statement issued by the party, "Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has appointed Yadav as the interim president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) with immediate effect."
Yadav will continue in his role as AICC in-charge for Punjab, the statement added.
Speaking to PTI, Yadav said, "The strategy is clear. We will consider everyone's suggestions. First, we will listen to them and will come up with a good strategy."
He stated that many senior colleagues are working in the Delhi Congress and contributing to the party.
"We face problems several times and the only solution is dialogue. I am glad to hold conversations with several fellow workers who had some issues. I am looking forward to meeting more fellow workers to have such discussions and I will reach out to them to find a solution," Yadav said.
Yadav said that he has the blessings of his seniors in the party and will work on the path shown by them.
The development comes as the Congress and AAP prepare for the May 25 election to the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.
In his resignation letter sent to the Congress president on Saturday, Lovely had said that he found himself "handicapped" as all unanimous decisions taken by senior Delhi unit leaders were "unilaterally vetoed" by the AICC's Delhi in-charge Deepak Babaria.
The Delhi Congress unit was against the alliance with AAP but the party high command went ahead with it, Lovely had said as his resignation brought to the fore the party's factional feud.
He had also criticised Congress candidates -- Kanhaiya Kumar from North East Delhi and Udit Raj from North West Delhi -- for their statements and said tickets were given to two people who were total strangers to the Delhi Congress and party policies.
With a section of leaders demanding the removal of Babaria, the AICC Delhi in-charge had said it was "unfortunate" that Lovely's resignation came at a time when the general elections were underway but asserted that it wouldn't affect the Congress while AAP termed it an internal matter of its ally.
The BJP said it was an "unnatural alliance" forged by the leadership of AAP and Congress to "shield their corruption" but their party workers had not accepted it.
Lovely resigned from the post of Delhi Congress president in 2015 as well. He joined the BJP in 2017 but returned to the Congress about nine months later.
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Mitchell Starc-inspired KKR dismiss SRH for 159 in Qualifier 1
Ahmedabad, May 21: IPL’s costliest buy Mitchell Starc lived up to the billing with a sensational three-wicket early burst as Kolkata Knight Riders shot Sunrisers Hyderabad for a below-par 159 in Qualifier 1 here on Tuesday.
Starc found delivered a body blow on the second ball of the game by rattling Travis Head’s stumps before accounting for the in-form Nitish Reddy (9) and Shahbaz Ahmed (0) to leave the opponents reeling inside the powerplay.
IPL’s third highest run-getter Head was all over the place when he went for a wild heave against the lanky Australian, who got the ball nipping slightly away after pitching and knocking down the off and middle stumps to dismiss the batter for his second consecutive duck.
Starc then bounced out Reddy with wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz settling himself well under the ball for a simple grab.
Shahbaz was the next to depart as he chopped one onto his wickets looking to guide it down to the third man.
Starc’s opening spell of 3-0-22-3 gave KKR complete control of the proceedings as the other bowlers thrived in the situation to drive home the advantage.
Reduced to 39/3, SRH needed a counterattack and that came from Rahul Tripathi (55 off 35) but it was far from enough.
Tripathi soaked in pressure well to keep the boundaries flowing for SRH but he did not find enough support from the other end, beyond a 62-run stand for the fifth wicket with Heinrich Klaasen.
The burly South African, who had scored a vital 49 in the last match, did not go all out but played a crucial knock of 32, which came off 21 balls with three fours and a six until he found the man at deep midwicket off Varun Chakravarthy in the 11th over.
Facing the task of rebuilding again, there was no respite for the struggles that SRH had to endure when Tripathi was run out after a brilliant effort in the field from Andre Russell caught the SRH batter halfway through the pitch when there was perhaps no run on offer.
Abdul Samad hammered a six off his first ball but his resistance too did not last long enough and the last of the recognised SRH batters, impact player Sanvir Singh, was cleaned up by Sunil Narine (1/40) on the first ball he faced.
SRH skipper Pat Cummins played a crucial knock of 30 off 24 while also putting on a vital 33-run stand for the last wicket with Vijayakanth Viyaskanth to take SRH beyond the 150-mark.
