Delhi Cong chief Maken quits citing health reasons

Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken on Friday announced his resignation from the post citing health reasons and amid a strong buzz about a view in the party to have a pre-poll tie-up with its nemesis AAP.

Maken's resignation also comes just a few months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and after helping the Congress find its feet in the national capital from where it was wiped out in a landslide victory of the AAP in 2015.

Maken had a meeting with Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday evening where his resignation was accepted.

“After the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, as its Delhi unit president, I received a lot of love and support from Congress workers, the media covering the party and our leader Rahul Gandhiji. It was not easy in these difficult times. Thank you all,” the former Union minister said on Twitter.

The 54-year-old leader had taken over as the Congress's Delhi unit chief four years ago after the party lost the 2015 Assembly elections.

In September last year, Maken had revealed that he was suffering from an irreversible and progressive orthopaedic ailment which was extremely painful, but not life-threatening.

AICC in-charge of Delhi P C Chacko said Maken had submitted his resignation in September last year and the same was accepted by the Congress president. Chacko said the party would now look for his replacement.

Maken was strongly opposed to any tie-up with the AAP contending that it would send the Congress fortunes on a further downward spiral in the national capital.

A section of the Delhi Congress has been advocating an alliance with the AAP to oust the BJP from the national capital. The BJP had won all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and controls three municipal corporations in the capital.

Former chief minister Sheila Dikshit had evinced interest in heading the state unit and even conveyed that she would accept the party high command's decision on an alliance with AAP.