After 10 years of misrule, Delhi is again looking towards Cong: Devender Yadav

Congress aims for a comeback in Delhi elections, citing dissatisfaction with AAP and BJP, as they focus on past development achievements.

The Congress has drawn a blank in the last two Delhi assembly polls. The party’s Delhi unit president Devender Yadav, who is contesting the upcoming elections from Badli, sat down with Snehil Sinha to share his perspective on the polls.

Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav. (PTI)

For 15 years, the Congress was undefeated in Delhi. Since then, the party has not secured a single seat in the city. What went wrong?

People were satisfied with the work of the Congress in Delhi and appreciated the development. But [Aam Aadmi Party convener] Arvind Kejriwal came in with tall claims of corruption and would waive documents claiming that he was honest, which people fell for.

People usually look for a change after 15 years of the same government. Somehow, people thought of giving this new option [the AAP] a chance… After 10 years of misrule and evident governance failure, people are again looking for a change and towards the Congress.

How do you see the party performing this time? How is the morale of the party cadre?

Our workers are now convinced that there is a strong possibility of our victory. They are coming out and actively getting involved in the campaigning process. Their morale is high. Moreover, people are also showing active support and remembering the days of development that Congress ushered in.

How do you think AAP and BJP will perform this time? Who is a greater threat?

The people of Delhi are missing the Congress, and they are not satisfied with the alternative they brought in through the AAP. So, our target is to make BJP lose, as they are the competition. Our vote bank is similar to that of the AAP’s, and there is strong anti-incumbency against them. So, AAP’s vote share is already gravitating towards us and our fight will be with the BJP.

AAP was an alliance partner during the Lok Sabha elections but you are contesting separately now. There is no possibility of any alliance with AAP in Delhi now or even later. I have been saying that we made a mistake but we do not intend to repeat it.

The AAP has accused the Congress of secretly supporting the BJP in many seats.

They can say what they want but the facts are different. We have seen that only to divide votes, the AAP has been contesting elections in states like Goa, Gujarat, and Rajasthan, where they have no stake. They even contested in Haryana for 1.4% of the votes. Also, when Kejriwal was asking for an alliance in Haryana, he was in jail. When he was released, he decided to contest the polls alone.

Kejriwal is now writing a letter to the RSS chief. In what capacity did he do it? What is the connection between them? All this shows AAP is with BJP. Otherwise why would they contest only from states and seats where Congress is strong and divide votes?

You are contesting from Badli. What are the main issues in your constituency and how do you plan on resolving them?

The Badli that I represented in 2008 was one of the most backward constituencies comprising mainly unauthorised and resettlement colonies, JJ clusters. The area did not have sewerage, proper roads or water connections. We tried to improve all these civic issues and also took the Delhi Metro to Samaypur Badli… My tenure in Badli was just six years, but people are remembering the development work we did during that period, as nothing has been done in the last 10 years. They want the Congress to return.