Day after Delhi rout, P C Chacko quits as Congress-in-charge, blames Sheila Dikshit for downfall

Senior Congress leader P C Chacko on Wednesday resigned as the AICC Delhi in-charge, a day after the party drew a blank in the Assembly polls for the second consecutive elections.

Chacko, who had a bitter relation with a section of the Congress's Delhi unit, submitted his resignation to party interim chief Sonia Gandhi.

After quitting the post, Chacko said the downfall of the Congress in Delhi started during the tenure of late three-time chief minister Sheila Dikshit.

“The downfall of the Congress party started in 2013 when Sheila ji was the CM. The emergence of AAP took away the entire Congress vote bank. We could never get it back. It still remains with the AAP,” he was quoted by news agency ANI.

Chacko's remarks drew quick response from Mumbai Congress leader Milind Deora. "Unfortunate to see her (Sheila Dikshit) being blamed after her death. She dedicated her life to (the Congress) and the people of Delhi," he tweeted.

The AAP swept the Delhi Assembly elections on Tuesday as it bagged 62 of 70 seats, while the BJP got eight.

Reacting to the poll results, Chacko had said the message of the Delhi polls was that the "most toxic campaign" unleashed by Modi and Shah has been defeated by the people of the national capital. "We lost very badly. We accept our defeat with humility. The Congress will work hard and come back," he said.

On February 8, the polling day, Chacko had said that his party would spring a surprise on the results day.

Following the drubbing in the assembly polls, Congress Delhi unit chief Subhash Chopra resigned on Tuesday as expected.

The Congress has been a divided house in Delhi ever since 2010 when a section of the party tried to dislodge Sheila Dikshit.

The bitterness between the two factions still persists as leaders from her camp blame the other for the rout of the party in these elections. Dikshit and her supporters have been at loggerheads with Chacko and sought his removal.

After the demise of Dikshit, who was Delhi Congress chief, in July 2019, party leader Ajay Maken was pushing for Kirti Azad as her successor, but the rival camp scuttled it and the party chose Chopra, who has served as the party unit chief earlier too. This prompted a few leaders to launch a signature campaign against the appointment of an outsider.

Weeks ago, the party unit was mired in a major controversy when Chacko leaked a purported letter written by Sandeep Dikshit, son of Sheila Dikshit.

In the letter, Sandeep had alleged that the reason for his mother's death was Chacko who tortured her through letters. She could not bear the pain and lost her life, Sandeep's letter alleged. Sources say Chacko forwarded that letter to Sonia Gandhi.

Subsequently, some senior leaders openly demanded removal of Chacko. The leaders include ex-ministers Kiran Walia, Mangat Ram Singhal and Ramakant Goswami, and councillors Rohit Manchanda and Jitendra Kumar Kochar. All the leaders were close to Sheila Dikshit. These leaders have been served show-case notice by the AICC.

Kiran Walia had gone to the extent of saying "if Congress has to be saved in Delhi, PC Chacko should be removed”.

Chacko had resigned from the party post following the controversy but was asked by Sonia Gandhi to continue till the elections.

Chacko, 73, is a former minister of industries in Kerala and was elected to the Lok Sabha several times. He was out of poll fray after his defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Chalakudy constituency.