Devendra Yadav, who formally took over as the interim president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) on Sunday, said "today, the country needs the Congress".He thanked the party leadership for entrusting him with this responsibility. "I thank Congress for nominating me for this position. I am grateful to Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Ajay Maken, who have also accompanied me here," Yadav said. The Congress leader also expressed his gratitude towards all the party workers saying he also started his political career as a worker and has seen a lot of struggles and hardships. "Today Congress, which is our mother, needs us. Its our duty to stand by the family when times are hard. Today, the country needs Congress," the Delhi Congress interim chief said. He promised to live up to the faith and trust reposed on him by the Congress leadership, and strengthen the party in Delhi with the support and cooperation of the party workers. "My shoulders are strong. I am determined to face the challenge. My team is strong. I will show how to strengthen Congress in Delhi," Yadav said. He said that though he comes from a political family strongly imbued in the Congress ideology and values, he never dreamt of rising to such levels after starting as a booth-level worker. "If an ordinary worker like me could be entrusted with such a big job, it shows that the party leadership reposes big responsibility on those who shows commitment and determination to consolidate and strengthen the party, which I will achieve in Delhi," Yadav said. He appealed to the Congress workers to ensure the victory of the three Congress candidates and the four INDIA Bloc candidates in Delhi in the Lok Sabha elections and in the process reclaim the lost ground for Congress in the city. Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken said the partys ideology was deeply embedded in the DNA of India, and the country was now looking up to the Congress to save the Constitution and democracy. A concerted attack was being mounted on the Congress ideology, and the Congress workers should unitedly fight to protect the ideology and beliefs, he said adding that this fight was not that of Rahul Gandhi, Ajay Maken or Devender Yadav, but of the entire country and which they should win, Maken said.  Rahul has been fighting for the rights of the people, from the Parliament to the streets. Yadav has been appointed the DPCC president at a most difficult time, but he has the competence to lead the party to victory not only in the coming Lok Sabha elections in Delhi, but also in the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections, Maken, the AICC treasurer, said. Senior Congress leader Subhash Chopra said that Congress will unitedly fight Rahuls fight for justice "Nyay" unitedly under Yadavs leadership. Yadav was appointed as the interim president of Delhi Congress on Tuesday, two days after Arvinder Singh Lovely resigned from the post while criticising the partys alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the national capital. Lovely joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday along with a few other leaders, including former city government minister Raj Kumar Chauhan and former MLAs Neeraj Basoya and Naseeb Singh.Yadav, who won from the Badli assembly constituency in Delhi in 2008 and 2013 and lost to Ajesh Yadav of AAP in 2015, is currently the All India Congress Committees (AICC) Punjab in-charge. Reacting to Lovely joining the BJP, Yadav on Saturday called him an "opportunist" and said "the party does not care much about such people. The Congress was strong before and will remain strong in the future as well".

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