Congress candidate from the New Delhi assembly constituency and two-time East Delhi MP, Sandeep Dikshit, has accused the AAP of siphoning off Congress votes in other states, at a time when the ruling party has made serious allegation against him and his party for being in cahoots with BJP while dismissing AAP’s claim of Centre hindering the Delhi government from functioning.
The son of former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is a widely known critique of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, one of the reasons he stated for pitting him against Kejriwal in the upcoming elections. While the AAP has made several allegations against Dikshit and Congress for being hands in gloves with the BJP, Dikshit, in an interview with The Pioneer, shrugged them off claiming that the BJP is picking his criticisms rather than the other way around.
“BJP is repeating what I am saying. They have never attacked Kejriwal on factual information. I have done that and I think it’s good whoever is picking that up. Secondly, there is a critique and a criticism of AAP, which is not party-specific. Criticism is opposition-specific,” he said.
“If Yamuna is dirty, do you expect BJP to say something else about Yamuna and us to say something else? We are in the opposition, we will attack you for all the things that you have not done. When they were in the opposition, AAP and BJP both called us corrupt in 2012-13. We could very easily say that you are saying exactly what BJP was saying. The role of the opposition is to criticize the government wherever it finds valid criticism,” he said.
He further raised questions on AAP fighting elections outside Delhi and claimed that they cut Congress votes to help the BJP. “They are really somebody who helps BJP win different elections and then they attack me,” Dikshit alleged.
Claiming that the AAP is afraid of Congress fighting the elections, he asked why the AAP is scared of him or AICC treasurer Ajay Maken when they say that Congress is not relevant in Delhi. “Their problem is that they are finding that the Congress is fighting full throttle and we are going to damage the prospects of both AAP and BJP very severely,” Dikshit asserted.
The senior Congress leader also asked for evidence from the ruling party for their allegations against the Central government for stopping their work. Remembering his mother’s time, he said that the delay is obvious in Delhi where files have to be delivered to the Lieutenant Governor (LG) first for approval. However, he said that it is a matter of delay rather than denial.
He claimed that the BJP has stopped the AAP from working where they believe they are indulging in corruption. “Otherwise, where is it that you’ve been stopped? Files will get delayed in Delhi because, unlike other states, where the Chief Minister signs a file and it becomes policy, in Delhi’s case, in many of the subjects, files have to go to the LG level,” Dikshit added.
While the AAP’s narrative is centered around ‘Phir layenge Kejriwal’ (We will bring Kejriwal again), Kejriwal’s rival said that even if he becomes one he will be a Chief Minister ‘who will be in jail’, or he will ‘not do any work’ because of the conditions put by the Supreme Court on his bail.
“In the remote chance that AAP wins Delhi again, and you get elected as their leader, even if you get sworn in as Chief Minister, you cannot perform. Not even for a single day. This promise of Rs 2,100 he made to the women. In reality, if he signs that file, he’ll go to jail. He’ll break his bail conditions,” the leader said, adding that AAP Convenor resigned from his Chief Ministerial post not as a sacrifice but because he knew that he cannot perform its duties.
The Congress candidate also plans to remind people of the work his mother has done for Delhi and how Kejriwal has not been able to carry it on even in an ‘average fashion’. Dikshit also claims that in case of any post-poll alliance, other parties will have to come to them and not the other way around as he is confident of a good performance by the Congress.
