Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s broadside on Arvind Kejriwal- naming the former Delhi Chief Minister as the “architect of the liquor scam” and raking up the sheeshmahal jab, a staple of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s attacks – underlined the chasm between his party and the Aam Aadmi Party, both of which remain (on paper, if nothing else), part of the INDIA opposition bloc and national allies.
Hitting back, Arvind Kejriwal said Mr Gandhi was repeating the BJP’s speech, suggesting there’s an agreement between the two parties.
Addressing a rally in Delhi’s Patparganj, before the city votes next week in an election that could, potentially, enhance or break Arvind Kejriwal’s political reputation, Mr Gandhi took aim both at the AAP leader and his right-hand man, ex-Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, both of whom had been arrested, and jailed, by the Enforcement Directorate on corruption charges.
“… Kejriwal had a small car (the blue Maruti Wagon-R that the AAP leader reported stolen in October 2017) when he came, and he declared he will introduce a new kind of politics. He had climbed an electric poll and promised to transform Delhi…”
“But when the poor people of Delhi needed him, he was nowhere to be found. When there was violence in Delhi (referring to the riots of 2020) he was nowhere to be seen. He talked about ‘clean politics’ but the biggest liquor scam took place in Delhi,” Mr Gandhi raged.
And then the Congress leader weighed in with the ‘sheeshmahal‘ jab, comparing the BJP’s allegations – that the AAP spent Rs 45 crore to renovate the Delhi Chief Minister’s bungalow when Mr Kejriwal held the post – to his vacating his MP bungalow after he was suspended.
Arvind Kejriwal, whose party has been in power since 2013, criticised Mr Gandhi for repeating BJP’s claims.
“Today Rahul ji repeated the entire speech of the BJP in Delhi. Tell the public what agreement has been reached between the BJP and Congress?” asked Mr Kejriwal.
