No strain, Congress-AAP will fight with full strength in Delhi: Rahul | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Signalling that Congress and AAP will be putting up a united front to strongly counter BJP, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday at a public meeting here said that on May 25 when Delhi goes to polls he will be voting for AAP and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal will be voting for Congress. This assertion of unity by the Congress functionary came at a packed Ramlila Ground in Ashok Vihar area of Chandni Chowk parliamentary constituency.
Making it clear that both parties need to work together to “save the Constitution” from those trying to destroy it, Rahul trained his guns at Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming that while he is giving scripted interviews to a few of his “favourite journalists”, he is refusing to have a debate with him as suggested by some intellectuals and journalists.He challenged that Modi will not have a debate with him as the PM cannot answer his questions about his links with a few favoured businessmen and the misuse of the electoral bonds scheme.
AAP and Congress are contesting in alliance in Delhi under the INDIA bloc with a seat-sharing arrangement of 4 and 3 seats. So, going by Rahul’s statement, since he lives in New Delhi, he will be voting for AAP’s Somnath Bharti and Civil Lines resident Kejriwal will be casting his ballot in favour of veteran Congress functionary JP Agarwal who is contesting from Chandni Chowk.
Rahul’s emphasis on Congress and AAP fighting with full strength is significant as it comes at a time when there has been speculation that the Congress-AAP Alliance is under strain as Congress is seen to be distancing itself from the controversy surrounding Kejriwal’s party as it is caught in the midst of a political storm over the assault case involving its Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal.
In a sharp attack on those leaving Congress to join BJP, Rahul said, “We don’t want ‘darpok (coward)’ leaders.” As the crowd cheered, he said, “We want ‘Babbar Sher’ (lions) and not those who fear action from CBI-ED.”
Rahul urged both Congress and AAP workers to work together and ensure victory for their alliance on all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. “It’s interesting that I will vote for AAP and Arvind Kejriwal will vote for Congress in these elections,” he said.
Continuing with his attack on PM Modi, Rahul said, “he (the PM) is giving non-stop interviews to his favourite journalists but he will not have a debate with me. I’m ready but I’m sure he won’t come. The first question I would ask PM Modi is what is his relationship with Adani, next I want to ask him about electoral bonds,” he said and claimed that the debate would end after these two questions. He also questioned that while PM Modi talks about Congress getting tempo-loads of money from Adani-Ambani, but he does not dare to get it investigated.
Rahul attacked the PM recalling that earlier he would spread hatred and make one religion fight with the other. He claimed that recently in an interview “Modi said that when he was small, on Eid, Muslim brothers would send food to his house. Really, Modi ji but you are vegetarian. So are you not a vegetarian that you claim to the world…”
“So, now you see a new Narendra Modi because you can see that he can perceive he is on his way out as the PM…,” Rahul alleged.
In his address, the senior Congress member also referred to his questioning by the Enforcement Directorate and pointed out that they interrogated him for 55 hours till they got tired. “They snatched my house… I told them I don’t want your house as the entire country is my home,” he said to a overwhelmingly responsive crowd.
Even though Congress is fighting the polls in alliance with AAP in Delhi as part of INDIA Bloc, the meet was largely a Congress outreach. Five of 9 AAP MLAs from Chandni Chowk including Delhi minister Imran Hussain, who represents Ballimaran assembly, were present.
All three Congress candidates – JP Agarwal (Chandni Chowk), Udit Raj (northwest) and Kanhaiya Kumar (northeast) – were present at the meet. Among senior members present at the meet were Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, P Chidambaram, Ajay Maken, Delhi Congress President Devinder Yadav and AICC Delhi in-charge Deepak Babaria, All India Mahila Congress President Alka Lamba and former Delhi ministers Haroon Yusuf, Yoganand Shastri among others.
Despite the heat, thousands thronged to the Ramlila Ground in Ashok Vihar. As the crowd swayed the Congress flags raising slogans in support of Rahul Gandhi, Congress set off its show of strength with ‘Vande Mataram’.
The concerns raised by the people in the crowd ranged from joblessness to price rise and inadequate pension as excited first time voters to elderly jostled for space to get a glimpse of Gandhi and hear the party functionaries zealously share the promises laid out in the party’s ‘Nyay Patra’ as they looked for answers to their daily troubles.