Chacko Blames Dikshit for Cong’s ‘Downfall’, Tenders Resignation

Congress drew a blank for the second time in Delhi elections, and its vote share dropped to 4.26% from 9.7% in 2015.

A day after the Congress party faced a second consecutive crash in the Delhi elections, senior party leader PC Chacko has tendered his resignation on Wednesday, 12 February.

His resignation follows his controversial statements on the former chief minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit.

“The downfall of the Congress party started in 2013 when Sheila ji was the CM. The emergence of a new party, AAP took away the entire Congress vote bank. We could never get it back. It still remains with AAP,” Chacko told ANI earlier on Wednesday.

The comment has added to the open infighting in the party that has dragged the party down in Delhi. Shortly after Chacko's comments, Congress leader Millin Deora replied saying:

Sheila Dikshit ji was a remarkable politician & administrator. During her tenure as Chief Minister, Delhi was transformed & Congress was stronger than ever.

Unfortunate to see her being blamed after her death. She dedicated her life to @INCIndia & the people of Delhi https://t.co/XwQPlHE6cw

— Milind Deora मिलिंद देवरा (@milinddeora) February 12, 2020

The Congress drew a blank for the second time in Delhi elections, and its vote share plummeted to 4.26 percent from 9.7 percent in 2015.

Congress' performance in the Delhi Assembly elections touched a record low with the party bagging less than 5 percent votes and 63 of its candidates losing their deposits. Only three candidates – Arvinder Singh Lovely from Gandhi Nagar, Devender Yadav from Badli and Abhishek Dutt from Kasturba Nagar – could save their deposits.

Dikshit's former aide, Pawan Khera. said, “[It’s] just a data point. In 2013, when we lost, Congress vote share in Delhi was 24.55 percent. Sheila ji was not involved in 2015, when the vote share slipped to 9.7 percent. In 2019, when she was back in charge, the vote share came up to 22.46 percent.”

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor posted an Urdu couplet on Twitter saying, one is taking pride in someone else's victory, even in the party's defeat.

“The Delhi results are disappointing for Congress but there are consolations: the BJP's divisive politics has been repudiated with their rout; AAP's development message is what has prevailed over identity politics; and eight months after sweeping the LS polls, the winners have been rebuked,” Tharoor said in another tweet.