Elections to Delhi’s three municipal corporations are due in April next year and will be a litmus test for three key parties, the Aam Aadmi Party, Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress. While it is important for the AAP to gain a majority in the MCDs, the out-of-power Congress needs to stage a comeback. Since the BJP already has a majority in the MCD boards at present, they will be playing the role of defending champions. In an interview with The Sunday Guardian, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Ajay Maken talked about how the Congress is preparing for a comeback and why the AAP is no more a front-runner in Delhi. Excerpts:
Q. It has been three years that the Congress lost power in Delhi. What rank do you think the party stands in the capital now?
A. In January 2015, we got only 9% of votes and zero seats in Delhi, the lowest ever for the Delhi Congress. Then, I was given the charge of Delhi Congress. At present, I believe that we are ahead of both the BJP and AAP. We have played the role of a major opposition to the state AAP government and central BJP government. We calculated that we have organised 126 big demonstrations and rallies in the last 20-21 months. The Congress has played the role of a true opposition.
Q. What steps have you taken to strengthen the organisation in Delhi?
A. We have formed executive bodies in 14 districts of Delhi. Earlier, we had 140 blocks in Delhi, but now we have split those into two each to make 280 blocks in Delhi. We have 280 block Congress committees and we have already announced 210 of them. The second step is that we have worked hard to push our “outreach organisations”. We have formed a street vendors Congress, Teachers’ Congress, Parvatiya Congress for people from Uttarakhand, South India Congress for people from the Southern states and a Poorvanchali Congress. In this way, we are ensuring to reach out to everyone.
Q. What do you have to say on the functioning of the AAP government? Has it fulfilled the promises made during the elections?
A. There is massive disenchantment among people for the AAP . They are yet to fulfill even a single promise they made before the elections. Their entire effort has been to convince people of the excuses for not being able to perform. They are busy building a convincing narrative for why they couldn’t do what they said they will. As far as the governance is concerned, there has been an absolute governance paralysis in Delhi because of putting the blame on others. The Municipal Corporation is putting the blame on the Delhi Assembly and the Delhi government is blaming the Centre. And this goes on in circles. The Congress party was not in power at the Centre between 1998 and 2004, but we did our work as a state government in Delhi. We were able to tackle the Centre’s severe interference and still managed to win election after election. Why should the AAP be allowed to keep making excuses for their poor performance?
Q. In your view, who is going to be the main challenger for the Congress in Delhi — BJP or AAP?
A. Our survey says that the BJP is our major competitor. AAP does not figure anywhere.
Q. But the MCD byelection results say otherwise.
A. In the byelections, we saw that there was anti-BJP and anti-AAP incumbency in motion. Since May, it is pretty clear that the AAP’s position has further deteriorated because of the dengue and Chikungunya outbreaks in the capital. They couldn’t control air pollution. Also, it looks like the AAP has forgotten Delhi as they are busier in preparing to fight election in other states.