Delhi Assembly Elections 2025 | If Kejriwal describes himself as anarchist, why can he not be labelled 'anti-national': Maken

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken on Wednesday doubled down his attack on Arvind Kejriwal, asking why the AAP supremo should not be called an “anti-national” when he had described himself as an “anarchist”.

Maken also said Congress leaders in Delhi and Punjab are not in favour of entering into any alliance with AAP as they believe any such move would directly benefit the BJP. The Congress Treasurer’s sharp attack on Kejriwal came hours before top party leader Rahul Gandhi’s second election rally.

His remark on December 25 last year calling Kejriwal an “anti-national” had triggered uneasiness in the I.N.D.I.A bloc with AAP asking Congress to take action against him or it would urge other parties to drop it from the alliance.

Congress top leadership had intervened to postpone a second press conference by Maken to “further explain” why Kejriwal was “anti-national”. Last week, he had reiterated that he stands by his “personal views” about Kejriwal.

At a press conference at the Delhi Congress office on Wednesday to accuse the AAP government of corruption in the health sector by citing a CAG report, he was repeatedly asked about his postponed press meet on Kejriwal and whether he stuck to it.

“If he calls himself an anarchist, why is he not an anti-national? An anarchist is one person who does not have faith in the Constitution. A nationalist is one person who has faith in the Constitution. Kejriwal did not tell me in private that he is an anarchist. He said it in public,” Maken said.

He said he would talk about it in detail later but before the Assembly election in the capital.

Then Chief Minister Kejriwal had on 20 January, 2014 said as he sat on a dharna outside Rail Bhavan after being prevented from marching towards the Ministry of Home Affairs, “they say I am an anarchist. Yes, I am. Today, I will create anarchy for (Home Minister Sushil) Shinde.”

The UPA government had refused to suspend policemen who did not arrest Ugandan citizens, who were accused by then AAP Minister Somnath Bharti after a raid led by him alleging that they were indulged in trafficking drugs. Police had cited the absence of a warrant to arrest them, while Kejriwal staged a protest.

Maken is one of the prominent leaders in the Congress, who is against any alliance with the AAP as they believe the Kejriwal-led party has taken away its space and the only way to regain the party’s relevance in the capital is to target AAP.

Before the Lok Sabha elections, Maken among others had made public their opposition to any alliance with AAP but the central leadership, particularly Rahul Gandhi, had ensured that there was a tie up. Both parties fought in alliance in Delhi, Haryana and Gujarat while against each other in Punjab in the Lok Sabha polls.

In Haryana Assembly elections too, both sides tried to enter into an alliance but could not reach an agreement over the number of seats AAP should contest in the state. Maken had blamed Kejriwal’s abrupt announcement soon after coming out of jail that his party will contest all 90 seats in Haryana for the collapse of negotiations, which was in “advanced stage”.

He also blamed AAP and Kejriwal for both parties not entering into alliance in Delhi, claiming that it was the former that had announced that there will be no electoral tie-up in Delhi, a day after the Lok Sabha results were out.