‘Why Are We Gloating Over AAP Victory?’: Congress Spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee To P Chidambaram

In an apparent jibe on senior Congress leader P Chidambaram for ‘gloating over’ Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) victory in the Delhi assembly elections, Congress national spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee, who is the daughter of former president Pranab Mukherjee, on Wednesday (12 February) asked whether the party has outsourced the task of defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to state parties.

The Congress party, which ruled the national capital for three successive terms under late Shiela Dixit, failed to win even one of the 70 assembly constituencies in Delhi, and got just around 4 per cent of the votes.

However, Chidambaram, who was the finance minister in the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government, seemed more happy with BJP’s defeat in the Delhi polls.

It should be noted that BJP increased its tally from three in 2015 Delhi assembly elections to eight in 2020 polls, with around 6 to 7 per cent rise in party’s vote share, securing over 38 per cent votes.

“AAP won, bluff and bluster lost. The people of Delhi, who are from all parts of India, have defeated the polarising, divisive and dangerous agenda of the BJP I salute the people of Delhi who have set an example to other states that will hold their elections in 2021 and 2022,” Chidambaram tweeted on Tuesday (11 February).

Responding to Chidambaram’s tweet, Sharmistha asked why were the Congress leaders gloating over AAP’s victory rather than being concerned about party’s drubbing.

“With due respect sir, just want to know- has Congress outsourced the task of defeating BJP to state parties? If not, then why r we gloating over AAP victory rather than being concerned abt our drubbing? And if ‘yes’, then we (PCCs) might as well close shop!” Sharmistha tweeted.

It should also be noted that the Congress party lost its deposit in 63 out of 66 seats it contested on. Only three of its candidates Arvinder Singh Lovely from Gandhi Nagar, Devender Yadav from Badli and Abhishek Dutt from Kasturba Nagar managed to save their deposits.