Congress divided over praise for CM Arvind Kejriwal

Congress leader Milind Deora’s effusive praise of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal triggered a bitter war of words with party colleague Ajay Maken, who advised the former to quit the party and then "propagate half-baked facts".

"Brother, you want to leave Congress – Please do," Maken shot back to Deora’s comments hailing Kejriwal-led Delhi government of being “most fiscally prudent” for maintaining a revenue surplus status for the past five years.

"Sharing a lesser-known & welcome fact – the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government doubled its revenues to Rs 60,000 crore and maintained a revenue surplus over the past five years. Food for thought: Delhi is now one of India’s most fiscally prudent governments," Deora, a former union minister and a former Mumbai Regional Congress Committee President said on Twitter.

Deora, who is considered to be close to Rahul Gandhi, had fallen out of favour with the party for his bitter public feud with party colleague Sanjay Nirupam.

Maken, another Rahul favourite, countered Deora with “even lesser-known facts” on how Delhi grew at a faster compound annual growth rate (CAGR) under 15-year Congress rule when compared with the five years of Kejriwal.

"However, let me share even lesser know facts-1997-98-BE (Revenue) 4,073crore; 2013-14-BE (Revenue) 37,459 cr. During Congress Govt Grew at 14.87% CAGR 2015-16 BE 41,129; 2019-20 BE 60,000. AAP Gov 9.90% CAGR,” said Maken, who is credited with carrying out far-reaching reforms such as privatising the power sector and shifting public transport to CNG fuel during his ministerial stints in the Delhi government.

Earlier, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram's praise of Kejriwal had attracted criticism from Delhi Mahila Congress President Sharmistha Mukherjee.