Another setback for Congress in Delhi; ex-MLAs Naseeb Singh, Neeraj Basoya resign, blame AAP alliance

In a major setback to the Congress party, two of its leaders from Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, Neeraj Basoya and Naseeb Singh have resigned from the party, just two days after Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely resigned from his post citing the party’s alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Lovely resigned from his post citing party’s decision to field “outsiders” such as Kanhaiya Kumar and Udit Raj in the Lok Sabha elections.

Basoya and Singh in separate letters addressed to party president Mallikarjun Kharge have also majorly blamed the Congress' AAP alliance for their quitting the parties.

Ex-MLAs Naseeb Singh and Neeraj Basoya, have represented Vishwas Nagar and Kasturba Nagar respectively in the past.

In his resignation letter, Basoya stated that he is resigning from the post of AICC member and AICC observer and the party’s membership and he is “aggrieved by the Alliance of the Party with the AAP in Delhi” as the alliance has been bringing “disrepute and embarrassment” to Delhi Congress workers.

“Our continued alliance with AAP is extremely humiliating given that the AAP has been associated with numerous scams in the past 7 years. The top 3 Leaders of the AAP- Arvind Kejriwal, Satyendra Jain and Manish Sisodia are already in jail. AAP has been accused of serious corruption charges on various issues such as the Delhi Liquor Scam and Delhi Jal Board Scam. On the other hand, AAP throughout its existence, has continuously levelled serious allegations against our party and top leadership,” his resignation letter addressed to Kharge said.

Meanwhile, Devender Yadav was appointed interim president of the Congress’s Delhi unit to keep the party’s organizational ranks in check in the national capital. Yadav is also the Congress in-charge of Punjab where the AAP and Congress have not settled for a seat-sharing arrangement as in Delhi.

While Singh is the AICC-appointed observer for the North West Delhi Lok Sabha seat, Basoya is the AICC observer for the West Delhi Lok Sabha seat. 

Sources from Congress continue to maintain that more resignations are expected in the coming days.

Although those exiting Congress’s fold have not joined the BJP or any other Opposition party so far but Congress sources claim they may either do so after the filing of nominations for the Lok Sabha elections concludes this week or they may form “an anti-corruption outfit” against the AAP government in Delhi.