The New Delhi assembly constituency is witnessing a fierce triangular poll contest. Sandeep Dikshit, former East Delhi MP and son of former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, is the Congress’s candidate against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and BJP leader Parvesh Verma.

In a conversation with Atul Chaurasia at his home, the Congress leader says that most voters in the constituency remember the development work carried out by Sheila Dikshit. “There is not a single colony which does not cite development carried out by Sheila Dikshit.” But asked about why his party is using Sheila Dikshit’s record to seek votes, he says the campaign is yet to be launched in its full scale. 

At the same time, the former MP admits he is unaware of what the people in-charge of the campaign in Delhi are planning. “We will use our legacy but in today’s context…those who plan this will have a better idea.” He also accepts lapses in the party’s organisational strength and addresses questions about why the Congress is not perceived as contesting the election like a single unit.

On freebies promised by the AAP, Dikshit terms it a “syndrome”. “You have made this syndrome that the voter will always want something free. You made politics a competition for freebies, not development…you made the government feudal.”

“There is a difference between welfare and what the prime minister called as revdis. Welfare has a social, economic and humanitarian logic. It targets a larger population,” the former MP says, referring to the AAP government’s power subsidy as “muftkhori”. He says the power subsidy should have addressed the concerns of small business owners instead of using a single slab for commercial setups.

On the allegation that Dikshit’s attacks against the AAP come because he nurses a grudge, he says, “The bitterness I have against the AAP’s policies is the same as that against the BJP. It is not personal.”

He also talks about allegations of manipulation of voter lists.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.