NEW DELHI: Congress today rejected BJP’s criticism in the wake of Finance Minister P Chidambaram opting out of Lok Sabha race, saying had he run away he would not have fielded his son from his Shivaganga constituency in Tamil Nadu.
“There is no running away. If that was the case, he would not have asked his son to contest,” AICC General Secretary and Communication Department Chairman Ajay Maken said.
He said the Finance Minister had wished to field his son Karti from Sivaganga following which the party has given ticket to the Youth Congress member.
Earlier, BJP took a pot shot at Congress saying the decision of Chidambaram to opt out of the election indicated the state of affairs in the party.
Trashing BJP’s criticism, Maken said if BJP was so confident about its victory then why party leaders were looking for “safe seats”.
“If BJP is assured of their win, then why is Narendra Modi contesting from two seats? Why L K advani is looking for a safe seat? He wanted Bhopal and became angry when denied the same. Why is Arun Jaitely, who lives in New Delhi, not contesting from here and has gone to Amritsar”? Maken told a press conference here.
The AICC General Secretary said the “so-called Modi wave is only in a section of the media only. Why you (media) are seeing a wave when BJP leaders do not see it?”
Asked about a number of Congress leaders joining BJP, he said it was “a normal practice” during elections.
“Formation of new alliances and people moving from one party to another during elections are not a new thing.
Congress has formed three new alliances at the national level with RLD, RJD and JMM. But no new alliances have been formed by BJP,” he said.
“We have better alliances at the national level compared to last time. We are confident of winning all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi,” he said. Talking about his personal achievements, Maken said he played a role in appointing the Seventh Pay Commission whose recommendation will be implemented from February 2016.
He said he was confident of retaining the New Delhi constituency.
“I got a chance to preside over NDMC for one month being a member of Parliament. I resolved the issue of contractual workers and safai karamcharis and all of them have been regularized.
Attacking AAP, Maken said that after their 49 days of “misrule and mismanagement”, people of Delhi are not going to vote for that party.
“We are not dismissing anyone. But everyone has seen their performance. People wanted Arvind Kejriwal to perform as a Chief Minister and deliver the promises which he had made before the elections. Congress supported the dreams which he sold to the people.
“Unfortunately, instead of fulfilling those promises he ditched the people of Delhi to fulfill his national ambition,” he said.
Meanwhile, honorary Secretary of Bar Council of Delhi Murari Tiwari and ex-chairman Rana Praveen Sidqqqui joined Congress today.–PTI
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