New Delhi:
Arvind Kejriwal's emotional appeal to the people of Delhi, ahead of the elections due in less than a year, has not left the “ally” Congress indifferent. The Prime Minister, who announced that he would resign from the post he held for a decade within 48 hours, has received criticism from all quarters, especially from Delhi and Haryana, where the elections are due.
In both states, local Congress leaders have made it clear that the alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party remains at the central level. The fight in the states is on and there will be no let-up.
Delhi Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit, whose mother Sheila Dikshit was three times Chief Minister of the national capital, could not keep the rancour at bay.
“Why didn't Kejriwal resign earlier if this was what he wanted to do? He didn't do it because he was not confident that people in his party would work without him being there,” Dikshit added.
The leader called the Aam Aadmi Party a “theatrical party” and said there was a “lack of trust within the party and it shows”. “Whoever Kejriwal decides to be in charge, it is because he is no longer there and can still control the decisions… Kejriwal has done a lot of damage to Delhi. This has no consequence or impact,” he added.
Asked about the collapse of the alliance in Haryana, a repeat of what happened in Punjab last year, he said: “We have been very clear that we will go ahead with the Delhi and Haryana elections on our own.”
“Where the Congress is strong, the AAP follows… They do not have the courage to contest in Bengal or the South,” he added.
Delhi Congress's Ajay Maken, who had been staunchly opposed to any alliance with the AAP, chimed in: “The only competitor to the Congress in Haryana is the BJP. We want to urge the people of Haryana that when only the BJP and the Congress are contesting in the state, if they vote for any other party, it will benefit the BJP. If anyone wants to vote against the BJP, let them vote for the Congress, otherwise it will benefit the BJP,” he said.
Over the past decade, the AAP has been growing at the cost of the Congress, starting with Delhi, where it ended the three-term government of Sheila Dikshit, shortly after the anti-corruption movement led by Gandhian Anna Hazare.
The footholds that the AAP has gained in Gujarat and Goa have also been in the territory of the Congress, which had been the main opposition party in those states.
Digvijay Chautala of the Jannayak Janata Party said the decision appears to have been taken in view of the Haryana elections. “Now Arvind Kejriwal will actively participate in Haryana politics,” he said.
Mr Kejriwal, two days after being granted bail, today announced that he would resign from the top Delhi post within 48 hours.
While this seems to be the only option in view of the restrictions imposed by the Supreme Court, AAP has taken it as an opportunity to test the waters in Delhi, where assembly elections are due next year.
“I will not sit on that chair until the people announce their verdict. Elections in Delhi are due in a few months. I got justice from the court of law, now I will get it from the people's court. I will sit on the Prime Minister's chair only after the people dictate,” Kejriwal had said after a series of internal party meetings.
The corruption allegations against Kejriwal and other leaders of his party have changed the status of the AAP, which was born out of an anti-corruption movement. They have wreaked havoc on its image and the Congress, in particular, has relished the irony.
“It is his will. If he can be the Prime Minister in jail, he can continue to be the Prime Minister outside jail. There may be other more serious issues that need to be addressed,” said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of the Congress.
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