Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: Amidst protests by Congress workers over the party`s decision to give outside support to the Aam Adami Party to form government in Delhi, party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi on Tuesday said that the party needs to introspect its loss in the recently-concluded Assembly Elections.
Commenting on protests by party workers, Dwivedi admitted that a group within the Congress thinks we shouldn`t have extended support to AAP.
"There were divergent views within the Congress on extending support to the Aam Aadmi Party. There is an opinion in the Congress that the decision to support AAP was not correct," Dwivedi told reporters here.
Congress was almost routed as it won just eight seats in the 70-member Assembly.
The Congress leader further said that since the mandate was not for the party, it should have perhaps played the role of opposition and raised people`s issues. Notably, ever since AAP decided to form a government in Delhi with Congress support, the leaders of Congress have been repeatedly emphasising that their support to AAP is not unconditional.
"Their argument is that Delhi voters have not given their support to Congress to the extent that the party could win only eight seats and it has not even got the post of Leader of the Opposition. Perhaps, it would have been appropriate that we would have left it to others to form government whoever wanted it."
Maintaining that the Congress government in Delhi in last 15 years changed the face of the city, Dwivedi said, "Despite this voters did not accept us...It was not our duty...Whether somebody forms the government or not."
He added, "We will examine our work style, our vision or plug the loopholes, whichever were left and strengthen our party organization and regain the confidence of the people. It is not our duty to see who forms government or not. This is indeed a thinking within the party."
The Congress general secretary, whose voice matters in the party, at the same time said, "Since now a proposal (to support AAP) has already been made, we have to carry on with that as well. Perhaps we will have to find out a middle path."
He parried a question whether Congress could withdraw support to AAP later, saying Congress does not follow an extremist approach.
With Congress` support AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal will take oath as Delhi`s seventh chief minister likely on December 26.
Protests have erupted outside Delhi party office over Congress` decision to back Kejriwal.
The AAP was invited to form the government after the Bharatiya Janata Party, which finished with 31 seats, declined to do so.
