The Congress has fielded many new candidates in its second list. How is the party planning to push their campaign?
They might be new to the media but they are popular in the areas from where they have been fielded. We had this challenge — there were a lot of old faces; they used to fight the elections again and again. People were sick of the same old faces every time. And we wanted to infuse some new blood into the party as well. It’s a very calculated move wherein we have introduced these new faces. All of them are educated.
They are also connected to the organisation… Those who have worked with the cadres, the NSUI, the Youth Congress, and eventually, most of them are in the PCC also. So, connecting them in their particular constituency is not an issue. Rather, they have a clean image… that fire in them. They are working harder and the results are visible. Regular surveys and the feedback that we are getting are pretty good.
When can we expect the next list? There is speculation that there aren’t enough candidates for the remaining seats…
That’s a joke. We’ve been… shortlisting very good faces. It’s becoming really difficult to shortlist the best among the people who have come forward to contest the remaining seats. There is a process in place. We are following that now. And anytime next week, we can expect that the final list will also be out.
Mahila Bhagidari is something that the party emphasised during the Delhi Jodo Yatra but female candidates remain to be few and far. Why is that?
We’ve been facing this challenge of organisation in the Delhi unit for the last few years… since there was no Delhi Congress representation in Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha for the last two terms. So, yes, it was really a big challenge to keep the leadership intact and infuse new faces. In the coming list, there will be ample representation of women as well.
It doesn’t mean we don’t respect women or don’t want to give them their share. It’s more because when the Congress was in trouble, for the party’s women, the challenges which are normally there for women in politics under normal conditions had increased even more. So, we have put the best of the best that we had. In the Narela assembly, which is a general seat, we fielded a young Dalit woman.
Certain events cancelled by the senior leadership have led to speculations on there being differences between the central and state leadership when it came to an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party…
There is no such thing. You must have observed that we have launched two guarantees. In one of those guarantees, the Karnataka Deputy CM had participated. Another scheme was introduced by one of our tallest national leaders and the Rajasthan ex-CM. In the coming days, you will see the same trend. Apart from that, Rahul Gandhi ji is also coming on (January) 13th. So, he is also in the mood to fight the election. Be it Priyanka ji or Kharge ji, they will all be seen very soon.
…But why did the senior leadership not show up during the Delhi Nyaya Yatra?
There were elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and most of our leaders were occupied there. Ajay Makan ji, our Himachal CM, the Presidents of different states — Raja Warring and Karan Mehra… Whoever got time, participated… not just participated, but they actually encouraged people to be there in the Nyaya Yatra.
When it comes to the schemes that the party has announced, there was first a cash scheme for women and then a healthcare scheme. 400 units of electricity is something that you had promised during the Delhi Nyaya Yatra. Has the party run these schemes through a feasibility check? If yes, what kind of discussions took place around this?
Definitely. You must have observed one thing behind every guarantee and announcement — there is a successful example of its implementation in another state. When we announced the Rs 2,500 scheme for women, it was backed by Karnataka’s scheme of Rs 2,000 to every woman in the state. We announced and we delivered. It’s been a year now and the women of Karnataka are benefitting from it. The health insurance of Rs 25 lakh… was again backed by one of our state’s policies which we implemented and is still on. But yes, with the change in government, they (BJP) have stopped giving money to that scheme. But for us, our credibility is of utmost importance.
For us, the guarantee of Congress means we will stick by our promises. Before announcing a guarantee, we carry out a lot of checks to ensure we will be able to deliver it.
Whatever schemes we have already guaranteed, or the promises that we are going to make in the coming days, are things that Delhi needs.
There is speculation that the party will announce five big guarantees. Would it be possible to implement them all in a single state?
Not precisely, but yes, around five. We have calculated everything before announcing these schemes. It is not without calculation or without keeping in mind the fiscal situation of Delhi.
Fiscally, Delhi is one of the strongest states in India. The only issue is that a lot of corruption has taken place in the last 10 years. If you remember, our budget in 2013 was Rs 37,000 crore… and at that time, you saw the number of flyovers, metro, underpasses, and CNG buses that had come up. Along with infrastructure development, we were also giving almost Rs 2,000 crore to pensioners. We used to give wheat and rice under our Delhi scheme and we were still fund-sufficient.
What we see today is a lot of mismanagement. Corruption has increased in the last 10 years… and although the budget has increased to Rs 77,000 crore, we do not see any development in infrastructure.
In the schemes that they (AAP) announced, corruption is clearly visible. These were the people who used to say the electricity distribution companies were not getting audited and they would get them audited. Ever since they came to power, the money for Rs 200 (free) units has been given to distributors to give electricity for free… if the consumer gets it directly, it could have been very beneficial but that benefit is being given to the distribution companies.
Our schemes have been announced after a lot of discussion and are backed by the fiscal situation of the state as well. We have tried to implement these schemes according to the situation of our state.
All our promises are first vetted by a committee, which is under the All India Congress Committee. It is not that something came to my mind and I announce it. It is systematically vetted first and only then are we allowed to announce those schemes. So, yes, we are quite confident.
How does the Delhi Congress see the controversial statements made by BJP leader Ramesh Biduri on CM Atishi?
It is not just about CM Atishi or Priyanka Vadra ji. It is about insulting women… and this is not the first time he has made such comments, he is a regular offender. You must remember how he insulted a minority MP in Parliament. So, such people can’t be spared. He should immediately be expelled from the party but we have minimum expectations from them because BJP has always been against women. It is a fact that the women are not given any positions in the RSS. I would say that RSS is the parent company of the BJP and that is where its leaders are guided from. So, when their mentality is against women, it is natural it’ll reflect in their leaders. And that is what he (Bhiduri) is reflecting. He should, at minimum, be expelled from the party… terminated… such people should have no place in society.
The Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress have announced their support for the AAP in the Delhi elections. Considering that all three parties are India bloc partners, how do you see this?
No, there has not been a formal announcement of such kind, as far as I know. Once a formal announcement is made, I would definitely comment on that. As is, we are in an alliance at the national level. In Delhi, we mutually decided, whether it was AAP or Congress, that we would go our own way… And when we are fighting for an election, we will get support from some and not from others.
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