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Rahul Gandhi’s speech, however, did not mention ‘Sheesh Mahal’ row and the CAG report on the now-scrapped liquor policy.
As Rahul Gandhi launched his poll campaign, his attack was more focused on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS. (PTI Image file)
In the nearly 25 minutes that senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi spoke on Monday at his first rally for the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, he mentioned AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal four times. But, missing in his speech were references to the ‘Sheesh Mahal’ row and the CAG report on the now-scrapped liquor policy.
As he launched his poll campaign, his attack was more focused on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS. He accused the BJP-led central government of compromising the Constitution and also blamed it for running a monopoly of the corporates.
Nothing new here, but just that, for the Delhi elections, when most of the Congress leaders were sharing stage with him, they were, perhaps, hoping more of an attack against the AAP. Present among other party leaders were also those who are contesting the polls, including Sandeep Dikshit, who is up against Kejriwal.
Delhi Congress leaders were caught by surprise, having prepared themselves for an aggressive battle against Kejriwal and reclaim what was once a strong ground for them. They were assured by the top leadership that Gandhi and the party will come on strong.
Calling his first rally the ‘Jai Bhim, Samvidhan Bachao’ rally, Gandhi’s indication was clear – that his speech will focus more on the BJP and RSS and little on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). His speech came on a day when the high court rapped the Delhi government for “dragging its feet” over calling an assembly session to table the CAG report on the excise policy.
In a conversation with News18, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri raised questions on what the AAP government has to hide, seeing as they were not allowing an assembly session to be called.
Gandhi’s silence on the ‘Sheesh Mahal’ controversy and the CAG reports left his party disappointed. All the more because it was first a complaint by the Congress that shone a light on the alleged liquor policy scam.
In fact, the BJP is hopeful that the Congress will gear up because that will help them politically and divide the “anti-BJP camp” again. “The congress must understand that if it fails to fight the AAP, it will meet the same fate as it did in Maharashtra and many other states,” Puri said.
The Gandhis, however, believe that keeping the BJP away is more important even if it means that Kejriwal gets another term in Delhi at the cost of the Congress. It was clear from Rahul’s Seelampur rally that for him the bigger enemy is the RSS and BJP.
He rounded up his speech by saying he will keep attacking the RSS and BJP till his last breath. But, on some occasions, he did mention that like the BJP and the Prime Minister, Kejriwal, too, had failed to fulfil his promise to the people of the city.
In Sandeep Dikshit’s presence, Rahul made the point that former CM Sheila Dikshit’s Delhi had been compromised and ruined by Kejriwal. But, he also attacked Kejriwal over the caste census issue, making it clear that this and the Constitution issue were more important for him. Whereas, for the Congress leaders contesting the polls, highlighting the AAP government’s alleged corruption would have been a wiser move.
