New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Congress' chief ministerial aspirant Ajay Maken Tuesday quit as the party's general secretary after he lost from Sadar Bazar while his party suffered a rout in the Delhi assembly elections.
In a subsequent move, the Delhi in-charge P.C. Chacko also stepped down from office.
"Yes, both the leaders (Maken and Chacko) have resigned. Maken's resignation is subject to approval from the party high command (party president Sonia Gandhi).
"Chacko's resignation is a mere formality as his term was supposed to end after the Delhi polls," party official Tom Vadakkan told IANS.
Maken, who was relegated to the third position with 16,331 votes Tuesday, was up against incumbent Som Dutt Sharma of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Praveen Jain of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a constituency that was a Congress bastion for three consecutive terms until Rajesh Jain lost it to the AAP in the 2013 polls.
Sharma reclaimed Sadar Bazar, the largest wholesale market in the national capital, with 67,507 votes.
"I take responsibility for the results and have decided to resign as general secretary of the Congress," Maken said.
Gandhi appointed Chacko as the party in-charge of Delhi in November last year.
He was filling in for party general secretary Shakeel Ahmad, who had requested the party president to temporarily discharge him of his duties for three months citing personal reasons.
Maken congratulated Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal.
He said: "We want to congratulate Kejriwal and hope the promises he has made and the dreams he has outlined, he will fulfil them in Delhi. For strengthening of democracy, I hope that he will fulfil his promises."
In his mainstream political career that spans over 21 years, Maken, 64, has won three elections to the Delhi assembly and two to parliament.
Beginning his political journey as president of the Delhi University Student's Union in 1985, he became the youngest member of the Delhi assembly in 1993 at the age of 29. In 2001, he was transport, power and tourism minister in the Sheila Dikshit cabinet.
In 2003, he was elected as speaker of the assembly.
He first became an MP in 2004, and was re-elected in 2009 during which he had thrice been in the union council of ministers.
Know what is the treatment of Covid-19 cytokine therapy? Trial is going on in Karnataka
Doctors all over the world are using different medicines and therapies in the treatment of coronavirus, which is spreading waste. Some time ago in India, the clinical trial of Plasma Therapy was
Weather Update: Snowfall in hilly areas and alert regarding rain in Kerala-Tamil Nadu; Know how the condition of other states will be
As October is about to pass, changes are also being seen in the weather. After snowfall in the hilly areas and rain in the plains last week, mild cold continues in the morning and evening. A
Salim Ghouse Passes Away: Actor Salim Ghosh dies of a heart attack, 'Bharat Ek Khoj' became popular from house to house
Television and film actor Salim Ghosh, who has acted in Bollywood, South Indian, and English films, died of cardiac arrest in Mumbai on Thursday. According to his wife Anita and son Aryama,
Mamata congratulates Indian cricket team
Kolkata, March 19 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday congratulated the Indian cricket team for its 109-run victory over Bangladesh in the second World Cup quarter final
Lockdown extended till 1 June in Maharashtra: death toll here is alarming, 816 deaths in 24 hours; the Death rate is also increasing continuously in Mumbai, in some small districts it crosses 5%
Maharashtra government has extended the lockdown till 7 am on June 1. With this, negative RT-PCR has been made mandatory for all people coming from outside states. According to the new order, anyone
Nepal political crisis: Chinese ambassador visits mean?
Madhav Kumar, the opponent of Nepal's President VD Bhandari and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, was in a discussion about the meeting of Chinese Ambassador Howe Yankee from Nepal, according to the news
IND vs ENG Test: Arshdeep injured in practice session, Indian team will reach Manchester on 19th; Update on Pant's injury
After the defeat in the Lord's Test, once again the discussions have gained momentum whether fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will play in the fourth Test or he will be given rest, but this time the Indian
BJP, AAP outpace Congress on Twitter
New Delhi, March 8 (IANS) The BJP and the AAP are far ahead of the Congress in attracting "followers" to their Twitter accounts.According to Twitter data, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which started
Jammu and Kashmir assembly condemns Swamy's remarks on mosques
Jammu, March 18 (IANS) The Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly on Wednesday unanimously condemned BJP leader Subramanian Swamy's remarks when he reportedly said mosques are not religious
Preity Zinta: Preity Zinta looked sad on the defeat of her team PBKS, but still patted Shreyas Iyer on the back
On Tuesday, the final match of IPL was played between PBKS i.e. Punjab Kings and RCB i.e. Royal Challengers. In this, Preity's team PBKS lost. Saddened by this defeat, Preity's reactions were seen on
