New Delhi, April 28 (IANS) After the resignation of Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit expressed understanding for Lovely's "personal challenges", attributing them to recent developments within the grand old party.

Dikshit also met Lovely at his residence in the national capital. Talking to reporters, he said that Lovely has experienced personal pain over the last two to three months due to developments in the party.

“I haven't read the letter. His pain is that we are struggling to bring back our old reputation in Delhi. Becoming the President of Congress is a crown of thorns," Dikshit said, emphasising the demanding nature of leadership within the party.

“Despite this, he worked hard in the last 6-8 months and built the party, which is evident through INDI alliance rallies,” he said.

Sandeep Dikshit also emphasised the need for unity and consensus within the Congress, and said, "When we get two or three seats, it seems that if we give seats to people with the consent of all the people of Congress, then the work will go better in the future.”

Earlier on Sunday, in a huge setback to the Congress, its Delhi unit chief Arvinder Singh Lovely resigned from the party post.

This comes amid the ongoing seven-phase Lok Sabha elections and Delhi is scheduled to go to polls on May 25.

In a four-page letter to party president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday, Arvinder Singh Lovely expressed anguish over the functioning of the Congress.

Expressing his unhappiness over the party's alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the national capital, he said, "The Delhi Congress unit was against an alliance with a party, which was formed on the sole basis of levelling false fabricated and mala fide corruption charges against the Congress party and in turn whose half the cabinet minister is currently in jail on corruption charges. Despite that, the party decided to ally with AAP in Delhi."

Lovely also expressed his dissatisfaction over the selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections for Delhi seats.