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Senior Delhi Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit, at the heart of an all-out war with Aam Aadmi Party along with party colleague Ajay Maken, today questioned what he has done to set off AAP.
Arvind Kejriwal's party, which has been ruling Delhi for a decade, has demanded action against Ajay Maken over his comments on the former Chief Minister. While no action has been sought against Mr Dikshit, Chief Minister Atishi accused him of being a BJP stooge and being funded by them.
"I don't know what I have done that they are so scared... They have nothing else to say, so what will they say?" Mr Dikshit told reporters today.
"What does B team mean? Tell me one place where BJP has lost because of Aam Aadmi Party... It defeats the Congress everywhere," added the leader, whose mother Sheila Dikshit, a three-time Chief Minister of Delhi, was forced out of power by AAP.
AAP has ruled since, scoring sweeping victories in 2015 and 2020 - mostly at the expense of the Congress - and the two parties have been at loggerheads since at the state level, even though they managed to become allies at the national allies this time.
But yesterday, AAP demanded that unless the Congress take action against Ajay Maken, seen by many as a motormouth, AAP will ask all INDIA bloc allies to expel Congress.
At a press conference earlier today, Atishi and AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh accused the Congress of being hand-in-glove with the BJP ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls, which would be held in February.
"Congress is doing everything to ensure that the BJP benefits in the election. Ajay Maken reads the BJP script, makes statements at the BJP's behest, and targets AAP leaders on BJP's instructions. And yesterday, he crossed all limits and called our leader Arvind Kejriwal anti-nation," Mr Singh said.
Mr Dikshit, who will be facing Mr Kejriwal in the election from the New Delhi constituency, sidestepped the controversy over Mr Maken's remarks. He also brushed off AAP, and its prospects in the coming election.
"They have fielded me to defeat Kejriwal, and why? The entire Aam Aadmi Party is on one side and I am on the other side.... Their entire party has never opposed BJP as much as I have," Mr Dikshit added.
The row between the Delhi Congress and AAP, almost traditional ahead of every assembly election, is seen as playing into the hands of the BJP, whish has managed to beat the Congress and wrest the second spot, becoming the principal Opposition party in the national capital.