Congress' Ajay Maken accuses Kejriwal of being an "anti-national"

"I have said this before and I am saying it now that Kejriwal is an anti-national. His coming to power in Delhi or anywhere else is 'deshdroh'. We should be careful of such a person. I and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa told in detail the reasons we called him anti-national. We also gave the proof for the same in a press conference. We feel sad when we see that Kejriwal is promoting the pro-Khalistan forces in Punjab. That is why we come forward and say that he is doing anti-national work and it is not only we who are saying this," Maken, who is the Congress treasurer, told ANI in an interview.

He was referring to their presser, where he and former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Randhawa accused AAP of taking money from an extremist ahead of the Punjab assembly elections.

Meanwhile, Maken expressed that the people of Delhi suffered a loss as Congress extended outside support to AAP in 2013. He said that AAP coming to power in the national capital led to an immediate stop of the development works being carried out under Sheila Dikshit's government.

"This is my personal opinion that the people of Delhi suffered a loss because we extended outside support to AAP in 2013. This immediately stopped the development, which was being carried out under Sheila Dikshit's government. Our capital expenditure was reduced. Buses reduced. The number of students in Delhi's government schools reduced," Maken said.

When asked about the allegations made by Kejriwal regarding his party's "collaboration" with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Maken refuted the claims and said that the weakening of Congress in Delhi only benefits the BJP in elections to Lok Sabha. He said that the BJP remains beneficiary of Kejriwal being in power in Delhi.

"This is wrong. Why would the BJP do this? BJP at the national level is the biggest beneficiary of Kejriwal being in power in Delhi," Maken said, adding, "If you weaken Congress in Delhi by making it a third party, BJP tends to benefit in Lok Sabha elections. If we had a tacit understanding, the BJP would never want Congress to be strong in Delhi because as soon as Congress becomes strong in Delhi, the BJP cannot win seven seats in Lok Sabha elections," Maken said.

Speaking on the rift between AAP and Congress in Delhi, Maken listed reasons including Kejriwal's announcement to contest the Haryana assembly elections alone on all 90 assembly seats. He said that it was not Rahul Gandhi who started the rift but Kejriwal who made headlines for not allying.

"There are two more reasons other than the CAG report. During the Haryana Assembly elections, a discussion was going on with Kejriwal and his party over seat sharing...We offered four seats they demanded six seats, so we said that we would discuss with our local leaders first and then come up to you..In the meantime, Kejriwal gets bail, he comes out and announces that they will contest elections alone on all 90 seats...It was not Rahul Gandhi who started this (rift), it was Kejriwal who made the headlines by not allying with us... With that, as soon as the Lok Sabha elections were over, Gopal Rai first stated that now our alliance (with Congress) is over... It was AAP that refused to form an alliance with Congress (in Delhi Assembly Election 2025)... When they are saying that we will fight on all 70 seats alone, then it is not that Congress will not fight even one seat...They have broken the alliance, so you cannot blame Rahul Gandhi for it," Maken said.

Earlier, Kejriwal launched a scathing attack on the Congress on Thursday, accusing the party of "collaborating" with the BJP to ensure AAP's defeat in the polls. "Congress is not contesting elections in Delhi to win, but they are collaborating with the BJP so that AAP loses," Kejriwal said in a video address. (ANI)