In a major setback for the Congress just ahead of the MCD polls, former Delhi unit chief of the party Arvinder Singh Lovely today joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Delhi Youth Congress president Amit Malik also joined the BJP along with Lovely after meeting party chief Amit Shah.
Lashing out at the leadership of his former party, Lovely said it has "died" under them.
"The child has died. The party is finished," he told reporters, referring to the Congress.
The switch by Lovely, who was a key minister in the Sheila Dikshit-led Delhi government, into the saffron fold comes less than a week ahead of the crucial MCD polls.
The former Delhi Congress President also referred to the allegations made by state Congress veteran A K Walia that tickets for MCD elections were being sold by party leaders.
"Nobody took note of his grievances. Several leaders in the Congress are feeling suffocated for the past two years," he said.
Reacting to the development, former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, under whom Lovely served as a minister, said, "Unfortunate. When even leaders who got everything from the party leave then whom do you trust?"
She also hit out current Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken and said. "The current Delhi Congress chief (Maken) is not able to reach out to leaders as needed that is also a reason for people leaving."
