Rahul Gandhi, leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, launched a frontal attack on AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal reminding the people of the alleged liquor scam and the 'luxurious house' the latter built as his official residence.
Gandhi jumped into the Delhi campaign with gusto after initially cancelling three scheduled rallies owing to his ill health. His aggressive pitch against PM Narendra Modi and Kejriwal signalled that the grand old party was contesting these polls with renewed vigour. This can cause trouble for the AAP in polls as Congress and AAP share the same vote bank.
Undeterred by the charges that Congress was not keeping the unity among the India Bloc, Gandhi launched scathing criticism towards the AAP government. He said liquor scam and "sheesh mahal" happened during Kejriwal’s tenure, the person who advocated honesty and frugal living.
“People have seen the making of Delhi under Sheila Dikshit and they have also witnessed the destruction under AAP’s corrupt rule. The honest don’t need a certificate of honesty, only those who distribute it who are dishonest,” he said.
Kejriwal stayed in his ‘sheesh mahal’ but when riots took place in Delhi and minorities needed him, he was not there, said the LOP.
Gandhi sought to paint Kejriwal as opportunistic and said the former Delhi CM was afraid of Modi. "The other parties may not be afraid of Modi, but Kejriwal is afraid of him. He had come and said he would do new kind of politics, clean politics but the biggest liquor scam took place under the AAP government," Gandhi said at the Okhla rally.
Kejriwal was quick to respond by asking why Gandhi missed speaking about Modi’s Raj Mahal (official residence). What is the understanding between the Congress and BJP, Kejriwal asked.
The former Delhi CM who has been maintaining silence on Gandhi’s attack on him, finally took a jibe saying Gandhi should not talk about who was brave as no action has been taken against them in the National Herald case and how Robert Vadra got a clean chit. The gloves were finally off.
The Congress leader had picked Patparganj and Okhla as his rally venue clearly indicating that the party was focusing on weaning away two key vote banks – Dalits and Muslims.
Gandhi has been picking up seats for rallies dominated by the Muslim population in an apparent bid to win them back. The Congress has also become a party in the Supreme Court in the case questioning the validity of the Places of Worship Act. Earlier during the day, Gandhi campaigned for party candidates including Sandeep Dikshit who is contesting against Kejriwal. Gandhi also visited the Valmiki Temple in the area in an apparent outreach to the Dalit community.
Gandhi accordingly framed his messaging along ideological lines. "A battle of ideology is going on. On one hand, there is Modi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and on the other hand, there is the Congress. The other parties are not based on ideology. There are only two ideological parties -- the BJP-RSS and the Congress," Gandhi said. He also questioned Kejriwal’s silence during the 2020 riots.
Gandhi also attacked former deputy chief minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia by calling him the "architect of the liquor scam".
During Rahul Gandhi’s second rally, in Patparganj, the leader talked about promises and pitched voters to vote for Anil Chaudhary as Sisodia had "run away" from the Patparganj constituency after indulging in corruption. Sisodia had shifted his constituency at the last minute to move to a safer seat, Jangpura.
Carrying a copy of the Indian Constitution, Gandhi waved it at crowds leading to cheers as reminded of the challenges posed by the BJP. “They talked about '400 paar' with the intention of changing the Constitution.” Rahul Gandhi also spoke about caste census and doing away with the 50 per cent cap on reservation in order to woo the people, thus mixing national issues with the local governance debate.
Gandhi will address more rallies in the coming days further heating up the Delhi poll battle.
