An open war broke out in Congress over its whitewash in Delhi elections with Sheila Dikshit attacking the party’s face in the polls Ajay Maken, forcing party president Sonia Gandhi to intervene to douse the fire by asking them not to squabble in public.
Dikshit accused Congress Campaign Committee chairman Ajay Maken of not taking other party leaders along during the campaigning for the Assembly elections, saying, “I pity Maken. He lost focus and he never took us along”.
Congress in-charge of the party affairs in Delhi PC Chacko and Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh lovely came out in support to the beleaguered Maken, who was the party’s chief ministerial face. “The Congress president said that it is unfortunate. She said that senior leaders should keep restraint. She asked me to convey to all senior leaders to refrain from making such comments on their colleagues,” Chacko told reporters after meeting the Congress president.
“I just pity him. Ajay Maken was not the way to put the right focus. He thought he would do all by himself. He did not involve anyone else. Quite obviously his style did not help the Congress party,” 76-year-old Dikshit said, in a no-holds- barred attack on her younger rival in the party.
The party lost all the seats, although it had contested on all the seats in the 70-member Assembly. Dikshit appeared to fault the last-minute decision to bring in Maken saying, “Change was made last-minute of Ajay Maken coming in and Arvinder Singh lovely not contesting.”
“Maken could not enthuse the party. He failed to highlight the achievements of the Congress Governments in 15 years till 2013. It was not my achievement. It was Congress’ achievement. He should have taken my name (during the campaign). Had he done it, the party would have done better,” she said.
Dikshit also criticised the current Delhi Congress leadership for failing to appoint the block and district Congress committees before the polls. The committees were dissolved following party’s drubbing in Assembly polls in 2013. “We must establish our units.
The block units, district committees must be revived. We have to get in touch with the people. We must get back to the grass roots like we always been. We always had strong grass root contacts,” she said.
The former Chief Minister said she would soon go to party Chief Sonia Gandhi to discuss about the ways to revive Congress in Delhi saying it was currently in “very bad shape” and that she was pained to see it losing its support base so dramatically. Dikshit also indicated her willingness to take the responsibility to lead the party’s revival. “It is up to the party high-command to take a decision on the issue,” she said.
Meanwhile Chacko criticised Dikshit saying that it was better for Dikshit to keep silence and said the party does not endorse her views. Maken’s supporter and Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh lovely said there was no benefit of giving advice after the elections and this is not the right time to criticise party workers after rout in Delhi elections. “She is our elder. We respect her a lot if she has any issue in conveying us, she should have conveyed her suggestions to the AICC,” he said.
“He (Maken) did his best for the elections and anybody saying anything otherwise is very, very unfair,” Chacko said. He said that lovely, Maken and himself met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and discussed steps to revive the party. Maken has reportedly expressed his desire to quit Congress. Though, sources close to Maken denied and termed it hearsay.