Cong leaders in public spat over Delhi debacle

War of words among Congress leaders over its dismal performance in Delhi came out in the public on Thursday, warranting an intervention from party president Sonia Gandhi.

Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit criticised Ajay Maken, the party’s campaign chief in Delhi, of a lacklustre fight that had no strategy or coordination with the local leadership. In her frontal attack on Maken, considered close to Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, Dikshit alleged that she and other local leaders were never involved in the poll campaign.

“What can I say about him? I pity him. The campaign was pathetic. The campaign should have been aggressive. There was lack in strategy, maybe in totality the Congress party was demoralised,” she said.

Maken chose to maintain silence on the attack, coming out only to rubbish claims that he is thinking of quitting the party.

Congress rallied around Maken, with senior leader P C Chacko asking Dikshit not to indulge in blame games.

“I don’t think the results would have been any different had Sheila Dikshit campaigned,” he said. In Tamil Nadu, Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister P Chidambaram, hit out at the Congress for the defeat in Delhi and asked the party to take lessons from AAP’s “fabulous win.”