Published 11:40 IST, February 17th 2020
Milind Deora checkmates Ajay Maken as Congress spat grows; asks 'Why'd you want AAP pact?'
As war-of-words broke out between former Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken and former Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora, the latter has now responded again
As war-of-words broke out between former Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken and former Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora, the latter has now said that he has never undermined the works done by late Sheila Dikshit. Seemingly irked by Maken who had asked him to quit, Deora said that it is Maken's "specialty" to undermine the role of former Delhi CM Dikshit. He also blamed Maken for Congress loss in the national capital adding that he had advocated an alliance with AAP, and had not highlighted Dikshit’s achievements.
Deora hails Kejriwal
Hailing Kejriwal's fiscally prudent Delhi government, former Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora on Sunday, shared that the Delhi government has doubled its revenue to Rs 60000 crores. Moreover, he added a 'lesser-known fact' that Kejriwal has maintained a surplus revenue over the last 5 years. Sharing a video of Kejriwal in the Delhi Assembly, Deora – who had resigned from his post after Rahul Gandhi's resignation as Congress chief – he stated that Delhi is now one of India’s most fiscally prudent governments.
Maken hits back
In response to Deora lauding Kejriwal, former Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken told Deora that he was free to leave the Congress if he wanted too. Maken, who was a part of the Sheila Dikshit government pointed out that the Delhi government had been in surplus during the Congress rule too. Slamming Deora for propagating 'half baked facts', Maken gave Deora a comparison between the Congress and the AAP governments.
AAP and Congress in Delhi
The Kejriwal-led AAP won the Delhi Assembly elections on Tuesday with a clear majority of 62 seats. BJP bagged eight seats but was confined to a single-digit. The Congress party failed to open its account just like the 2015 elections. As Congress suffered their second consecutive defeat in Delhi, party's Mahila Congress chief and daughter of former President Sharmistha Mukherjee sounded the bugle of rebellion. As many in Congress including former chief Rahul Gandhi and party bigwigs like Kamalnath, P Chidambaram gloated on AAP's victory, others expressed dissatisfaction at the party's strategy including Mukherjee and young Turks like Jaiveer Shergill.
Updated 11:40 IST, February 17th 2020