Why Rahul Gandhi opted for a no-holds-barred campaign against Arvind Kejriwal

While the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition attacked the AAP authorities successful his archetypal run rally successful Delhi connected January 14, helium has shifted gears successful the 2nd signifier of his campaign. He has singled retired Kejriwal and adjacent equated him with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, arguing that they are 2 sides of the aforesaid coin.

Congress leaders reason that the BJP has a captive ballot slope successful the superior — its ballot stock remained much oregon little betwixt 32% and 38% successful the Assembly elections since 1998 — and does not mostly overlap with that of the Congress. The AAP, connected the different hand, has taken distant astir each of the Congress’s enactment base.

“Our entreaty among the BJP ballot slope is limited. Even successful our heyday, we could not interruption into their enactment basal and that volition stay so. We request to get backmost our enactment basal which had moved to the AAP,” said a Congress leader. The Congress cannot spend to play footsie with the AAP and “our cardinal leaders person realised this now”, helium said.

What has besides angered the Congress cardinal enactment is the AAP’s targeting of Gandhi, listing him successful a run poster of “dishonest” radical among galore different leaders from the Congress and the BJP. Since then, Gandhi has questioned Kejriwal’s marque of authorities and linked him to corruption allegations. The Congress person has besides called the AAP and the BJP “anti-Dalit and anti-reservation” and has argued that Dalits, the backward classes, and spiritual minorities person nary spot connected the AAP table. He has pointed retired that the AAP’s apical enactment has nary 1 from the deprived sections.

“The BJP and the Congress were accepted opponents successful Delhi. We cognize each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We tin travel backmost lone erstwhile the AAP is taken retired of the equation,” said a Congress leader.

Congress leaders assertion that the party’s interior surveys amusement that its candidates successful astatine slightest fractional a twelve seats are giving a pugnacious combat — the enactment claims they are successful a winnable presumption — and wide its ballot stock whitethorn interaction treble digits from the contiguous 4.63%. While the Congress appraisal was misplaced successful Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, and Maharashtra, enactment leaders basal the assertive targeting of the AAP connected the “feedback from the ground”.

An aged grudge

The AAP is the lone determination outfit to person ousted the Congress from powerfulness successful 2 places — Delhi and Punjab — successful caller history. Besides, Gandhi, similar astir Congress leaders, believes it was the Anna Hazare movement, of which Kejriwal was a part, that triggered the party’s nationwide illness successful 2014.

The Congress’s 2013 decision successful Delhi was portion of a bid of losses to a determination party. The Telugu Desam Party and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (then the Telangana Rashtra Samithi) came to powerfulness successful Andhra Pradesh and Telangana successful 2014 ousting the Congress from power. The Shiromani Akali Dal had done the aforesaid successful Punjab successful 2007.

When the Congress and the AAP contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections successful Delhi successful alliance, Gandhi famously noted that it was absorbing that portion helium would ballot for the archetypal clip for an AAP campaigner successful the New Delhi seat, Kejriwal would formed his ballot for the Congress nominee successful Chandni Chowk. Even then, the 2 ne'er campaigned together.