Congress blames INDIA bloc ally AAP for Lok Sabha loss in Delhi: ‘Due to excise scam…’
The Congress and AAP had contested on three and four seats respectively in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but lost to the BJP which scored 7-0 for the third time
The Congress has blamed INDIA bloc ally Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for their loss in the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi.
"When we (Congress) exposed the excise scam, we demanded the then government to conduct a proper investigation. ED and CBI didn't take any action, even after 18 months of filing the case. But, just 1 month before the Lok Sabha polls, they arrested Arvind Kejriwal," Congress leader Abhishek Dutt told ANI.
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‘Cong suffered due to excise scam’: Dutt
Continuing his attack on AAP, Dutt added,"I believe if we had not contested the elections with them, then Congress' seats would have increased in the elections. Because of the Excise scam, the Congress suffered a loss in the Lok Sabha elections."
"Satyendar Kumar Jain is in jail because of his involvement in the scam. Manish Sisodia is in jail and because of all of them Congress has suffered the loss," he added.
Dutt trained guns on Delhi minister Atishi, who had briefly sat on a fast to press her demand before Haryana government to release additional water to the Capital.
"Atishi is doing drama by sitting on Dharna and because of that AAP is suffering from loss. The minister's job is to provide full facilities to the public. There is no water in Delhi and they are doing dharna," the Congress leader said.
This is not the first instance when the Congress has sniped at AAP, with whom it contested 2024 general elections in all seven seats of Delhi. The INDI bloc allies could not win a single seat and BJP retained all seven constituencies in the capital for the third straight time.
Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav had also attacked the AAP over waterlogging in several parts of the city due to heavy rain.
“There is no area in Delhi where waterlogging did not take place today, be it railway stations, airports, parks or residential areas. For the first time, Delhi came to a standstill. We have regularly been warning the government about monsoons by writing letters but in times of crisis, the Delhi government runs away as seen today," Yadav had told PTI.
Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj had hit back at the Congress, saying,"Opposition parties in the nation are fighting to save the constitution...Division among the opposition parties is not good. The local leadership in different states have the right to express their views."
(With agency inputs)