Delhi Mahila Congress chief and party spokesperson Sharmishtha Mukherjee lashed out at fellow party leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram who posted a tweet celebrating the defeat of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi Assembly elections. Mukherjee said the Congress should be concerned about its own drubbing in Delhi.
“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,” Chidambaram posted on Twitter.
Mukherjee responded to the tweet saying, “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!”
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“We are again decimated in Delhi. Enough of introspection now, it’s time for action now. Being part of the system, I too take my share of responsibility,” Mukherjee tweeted on Tuesday.
She also listed the reasons for Congress’ dismal performance in Delhi polls and blamed the top leadership for loss. “There were inordinate delays in decision-making at the top, and lack of strategy and unity at state level. Our workers were demotivated, there was no grassroot connect,” said Mukherjee.
Other party leaders had also offered harsh criticism. Congress leader Jaiveer Shergill suggested that the party should avoid things like justifying defeat, finding happiness in the BJP’s defeat and telling itself that wins and losses are cyclic in elections.
Party MP Pratap Singh Bajwa said those against the BJP’s divisive politics had the option of either the AAP or the Congress, and they chose the former.
A teetering election campaign, a leadership crisis and over-dependence on legacy appeared to be the reasons behind the party’s dismal show. It ran a nostalgia-steeped campaign for Delhi polls, centred around the development done by former chief minister Sheila Dikshit in her 15-year tenure as chief minister, which failed to enthuse voters.
Congress was in power in Delhi from 1998 to 2013, but after the emergence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), it started losing ground. In 2013 Assembly election, Congress’ vote share in Delhi was 22 per cent which slipped to just above nine per cent in 2015. This year, it further shrunk to four per cent. And the party couldn’t win a single seat in Delhi in second consecutive election.
