
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit is pitted against AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and BJP’s Parvesh Verma from the New Delhi constituency. The son of former CM Sheila Dikshit tells Diksha Sinha and Ashish Srivastava that supporting the AAP is a strategic move by INDIA bloc allies like the Trinamool Congress and SP as revival of the Congress would increase chances of its rise in states like Bihar, UP and West Bengal where the alliance partners are in direct fight. Excerpts:
Kejriwal hugely impacted the political career of your mother and three-time CM of Delhi. It seems like life has come to a full circle for you…
In electoral politics, either you win or lose. I have seen a lot of wins and losses. I don’t think winning or losing is of special importance. What is important to note that a vicious and personal campaign was launched against my mother and other Congress leaders. I think Kejriwal has lowered the level of politics. For me, he is just from another party, which opposes us and we oppose them.
Congress claims that Sheila Dikshit-era was a golden period for Delhi. Why has Congress not made her the central theme of its poll campaign?
You can’t make the past a central theme. The past gives you credibility. If you look at the history of Independent India, I don’t think any CM would have been remembered 11 years after her demitting office. The Congress, however, draws a lot of strength from her legacy.
Are you trying to build your campaign around the legacy of your mother?
Wherever a Congress candidate goes for campaigning, voters say Sheila Dikshit had done a lot for the people of Delhi. I have never heard people talking about Kejriwal in the same way.
The constituency has a large population of government servants. Nobody has questioned us.
Condition of NDMC area is different from the rest of the city. However, neither Kejriwal nor BJP has done anything. For example, NDMC gives huge jobs through muster rolls. The AAP stopped the muster rolls in 2014 after Kejriwal came to power and the BJP wrested NDMC control.
What do you think of the ongoing tension between the AAP government and the L-G?
There are real issues. However, most of the issues are manufactured by Kejriwal. He has never got along with any L-G, chief secretary or police commissioner. Is it that everybody else except Kejriwal is good? There is something wrong with the way he functions. Kejriwal wants absolute control over the bureaucrats who report to the Centre.
It seems there is a lot of confusion on the INDIA alliance. You have been a vocal critic of Kejriwal.
We had an INDIA alliance for the Lok Sabha elections. Has anyone spoken of the Congress and the TMC fighting together in West Bengal? Has the Congress sought the SP support or asked the TMC to support it in Delhi? It is clear that the SP and others will not support the Congress in Delhi because if the grand old party does well in the city, it will rise more effectively nationally. So, the TMC and the SP are not supporting the AAP, they are only keeping their castles safe in West Bengal and in Uttar Pradesh, respectively.
What happened after the announcement of alliance with AAP during the Lok Sabha polls? Arvinder Singh Lovely resigned and you stood by him. What transpired?
He (Lovely) said he wasn’t consulted about the Lok Sabha seats. I stood by him as a friend and a former colleague. But he quit. I thought he was not doing bad as the Delhi Congress chief.
In his resignation letter, Lovely mentioned that he wasn’t in the favour of the alliance…
I was also not in the favour. But the national alliance is not part of my decision making. We would have preferred to fight all the seven seats alone. But I don’t think anybody had strong opinions. Because, we realised that we had a bigger battle to fight. And it worked as well. Congress won almost 100 seats, SP rose.
Local leaders weren’t consulted?
Of course, they were consulted. Please remember, same Lovely was for an alliance with the AAP for the 49-day government in 2013 when Sheila Dikshit was the PCC president. In 2019 as well, he backed the alliance. Then he changed his mind.
The alliance with AAP did not help Congress in Delhi...
I think we would have come second in all the seven seats. What did the AAP do in 2013? They formed government with the Congress. Who did they defeat? Congress. India Against Corruption is one of the main reasons why the BJP came to power. Obviously, he (Kejriwal) is the biggest tool of the BJP.