JAIPUR : Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot on Saturday attributed the party's poor showing in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections to "situations beyond its control."

"The verdict went against us though we did not do anything wrong," Mr. Gehlot, who is the party in charge for Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, said.

Government duty

"The issues relating to ceiling and demolitions were not of our making. As per the court order, the MCD did its duty. It was the Delhi Government's duty also to comply with the court orders and facilitate the removal of illegal constructions," Mr. Gehlot pointed out. "In fact, the United Progressive Alliance Government tried to make rules and provide a Master Plan 2021. As many as 2,500 roads were notified and decision was taken to regularise 1,500 colonies," he noted.

"Perhaps the fact that we were in power in the MCD, in the State and at the Centre made people feel that the Congress should have done something to provide relief to the affected," Mr. Gehlot observed. An atmosphere against the Congress also was created over the power reforms and by the talk about highly inflated power and water bills, he felt.

Mr. Gehlot replied in the negative when asked whether the Delhi civic poll results would have an impact on the Congress prospects in Uttar Pradesh. "I don't think so. Delhi elections were local and issues were unrelated to Uttar Pradesh," he said. He expected the party fortunes in Uttar Pradesh to pick up after the initial 3-4 rounds of polling. "By then the impact of Rahul Gandhi's campaign in the area would show," he said.

No tall claims

As for U.P. results, Mr. Gehlot was not making any tall claims. "We don't expect any miracles for the party in U.P. though we are confident of improving our vote percentage. The number of seats will also go up," he said. He accused the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party of working at tandem to create Hindu-Muslim divide in the State.

Hails EC act

He hailed the Election Commission's action against BJP president Rajnath Singh and State leader Lalji Tandon on the incriminating CD issue and said that the CDs were being distributed even now.

"The BJP leaders' plea that they were unaware of the contents of the CD is not credible. Without the leadership's viewing it themselves, the party would not have released it for election campaign," Mr. Gehlot said seeking action against them.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail