Former Finance Minister and veteran Congress leader P Chidambaram has faced criticism from one of his own senior colleagues for praising Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party for defeating the BJP in the just-concluded assembly polls. Ex-Congress MLA Sharmistha Mukherjee, also the daughter of Former President Pranab Mukherjee, publicly disagreed with her senior leader and wondered if her party had ‘outsourced the task of defeating BJP to state parties.’
Reacting to the AAP’s win, Chidambaram had tweeted, “AAP won, bluff and bluster lost. The people of Delhi, who are from all parts of India, have defeated the polarising, divisive and dangerous agenda of the BJP I salute the people of Delhi who have set an example to other states that will hold their elections in 2021 and 2022.”
AAP won, bluff and bluster lost. The people of Delhi, who are from all parts of India, have defeated the polarising, divisive and dangerous agenda of the BJP
I salute the people of Delhi who have set an example to other states that will hold their elections in 2021 and 2022
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) February 11, 2020
Reacting to this tweet, Mukherjee wrote, “With due respect sir, just want to know- has (Congress) outsourced the task of defeating BJP to state parties? If not, then why are we gloating over AAP victory rather than being concerned about our drubbing? And if ‘yes’, then we (state Congress units) might as well close shop!”
With due respect sir, just want to know- has @INCIndia outsourced the task of defeating BJP to state parties? If not, then why r we gloating over AAP victory rather than being concerned abt our drubbing? And if ‘yes’, then we (PCCs) might as well close shop! https://t.co/Zw3KJIfsRx
— Sharmistha Mukherjee (@Sharmistha_GK) February 11, 2020
Other Congress leaders such as Sanjay Jha and Khushbu Sundar asked for action instead of introspection to revive the party in the national capital. 63 out of 66 Congress candidates lost their deposits in this election with the party’s vote share being reduced to little over 4%.
No time to retrospect.Enough of we doing that after every defeat.We dont do the same after every win. Now is the time for action.Lets take it from #MahatmaGandhi n begin with “Be the change you want to see”. We need to change ourselves.We need to grow out of our fears.We have to.
— KhushbuSundar ❤️ (@khushsundar) February 11, 2020
The first step to renewal is accepting the reality of a serious problem. Living in denial is postponing the inevitable.
The Congress party needs a complete reinvention, and it needs to look different in 6 months maximum. It cannot be a 5 year project. #DelhiResults
— Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) February 11, 2020
The party’s dismal performance assumes significance since it had appeared to gain plenty of lost ground in the last year’s Lok Sabha polls when it finished second behind the BJP in five out of seven parliamentary seats.
While the AAP has won 62 out of 70 seats in this year’s elections, the BJP won 8 and the Congress once again failed to win a single seat. The Congress had governed the city for 15 years under Sheila Dikshit until she was defeated by Arvind Kejriwal in 2013.