BJP Rewards Ex-Congress Ministers With Key Posts
Congress
ministers, who switched sides ahead of the Lok Sabha polls last year and won assembly elections on
BJP
tickets earlier this year, were rewarded and made chairpersons of two separate development boards.
Raj Kumar Chauhan, who won from his traditional seat of Mangolpuri, was made the chairperson of the Delhi Village Development Board. Gandhi Nagar MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely was made the chairperson of the Trans Yamuna Development Board. Sources said the decision was taken in the cabinet meeting, chaired by chief minister Rekha Gupta, earlier this week, and a gazette notification is likely to be issued soon. The other members of the boards will be nominated by govt.
The cabinet decisions mentioned that the two boards will advise govt on issues related to infrastructure development in those areas.
Their appointment to the boards marks their return to govt after a gap of 12 years.
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Lovely was made a minister by then chief minister Sheila Dikshit in 2003. He held several important portfolios during his 10 years in office, including education, transport and revenue.
Chauhan, who was brought into the cabinet by Dikshit in a reshuffle in 2001 during her first term as CM, remained a minister for 12 years and held PWD , irrigation and flood control, and revenue portfolios.
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Both bring with them vast experience in governance, which will come in handy while working as the chairpersons of the village development board and Trans Yamuna Development Board, respectively.
Lovely quit Congress in protest against the alliance with AAP in the Lok Sabha polls in 2024 and joined BJP.
Chauhan left Congress after he was denied a Lok Sabha ticket in 2024. This was the second time for both Lovely and Chauhan to join BJP.
The Gandhi Nagar MLA joined BJP in May 2017 but returned to Congress in Feb 2018, saying he was a "misfit" in the saffron party. Chauhan left Congress in May 2019 but returned within a few months.
Both Lovely and Chauhan played significant roles in mobilising voters in favour of BJP in the Lok Sabha polls last year and the assembly elections earlier this year. While Lovely holds sway among voters in east and north-east Delhi and among the Sikhs, Chauhan is a well-known face among scheduled castes, besides being a popular politician in outer Delhi.
Lovely won four consecutive assembly polls in 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2013, and lost in 2015 and 2020, before getting elected again in 2025, this time on a BJP ticket. Chauhan also won four consecutive elections between 1993 and 2008. He lost the 2013 and 2015 elections and got re-elected again in 2025.
Their political acumen and administrative experience are considered a major asset for BJP and Delhi govt. Sources said both were accorded the status of cabinet ministers.
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