New Delhi: After a debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, the Delhi Congress is witnessing infighting ahead of Assembly elections due to be held early next year. On Monday, Purushottam Goyal, a Congress leader, in a letter to party chief Rahul Gandhi, demanded the removal of Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikhsit for the party’s poor performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
Goyal’s letter comes after a Delhi Congress leader Rohit Manchanda demanded replacement of P.C. Chacko, AICC in-charge of the city unit, over the poll debacle. Manchanda also alleged that Chacko “misbehaved” with him at the Delhi Congress office last week.
Responding to Goyal’s letter to Rahul Gandhi, Manchanda told The Sunday Guardian: “One must ask Purushottamji, on what basis he wrote that letter, on whose direction he wrote that letter to the party chief? We all know who is behind all this.”
Dikhsit and Chacko had serious differences over an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Though Dikhsit was opposed to any alliance with AAP, Chacko was in favour of an alliance. The alliance, however, did not materialise and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept all the seven Lok Sabha seats, making the Congress and AAP bite the dust. The infighting in the party that has surfaced recently can be attributed to the difference between the two top leaders of the party.
Manchanda told The Sunday Guardian: “It has been only four months since Sheila Dikshitji has taken charge of the party in Delhi. The Congress was in third position, after Sheilaji took charge, we came in second position in five of the seven seats in the Lok Sabha elections.” Blaming Chacko for unnecessarily delaying the process, he said, “We came in the second position just because Chackoji and some others unnecessarily delayed the process by wasting time in engaging in discussions with AAP for an alliance. Otherwise, we would have won three to four seats.”
Meanwhile, Delhi Congress has started looking for suitable candidates for 70 Asssembly segments in Delhi. The party had asked its block and district presidents to submit at least three names, including one woman, for their respective constituencies. A source in the Congress said that names have started coming and he cannot disclose anything further since the process is still on. “Once it’s completed, the party, under the leadership of Sheila Dixit, will decide on how to proceed next,” the source said.