Congress to launch booklet exposing 49 days of AAP rule in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Having released its list of 70 candidates, Congress is now all set to step up its attack on Aam Aadmi Party convener and former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. It will launch a booklet "exposing" 49 days of the AAP government in Delhi on Saturday. The move is aimed at regaining lost ground among voters in the capital who had shifted their allegiance to AAP in the last election.

The booklet will raise questions on various promises made by the AAP government. This will also contain punch lines such as "49 din ki ulti chaal", "Dilli hui behaal, U-turn Kejriwal". The booklet to be released at the AICC headquarters will be the first major frontal attack by Congress on AAP in the run-up to the February 7 polls. The report is likely to highlight 16 issues ranging from power tariff, water to regularization of contractual labourers. Congress is expected to follow it up with a separate report on Delhi under President's Rule to take on the BJP. It is learnt that the booklet on AAP also seeks to expose some "unknown facts" about Kejriwal that Congress functionaries term as "revealing facts".

The booklet will be distributed widely among Congress workers who will, in turn, spread the message across the 70 constituencies. To reach out to the internet-savvy, young and educated voters, Congress plans to upload the booklet on the party's website and circulate it through social media.

Ajay Maken, who has been made campaign in-charge for the Delhi polls, says the party is gearing up for an issue-based campaign. "The main focus of our campaign will be to highlight Congress' achievements during its 15 years of rule and compare it with the period when a non-Congress government was in power. This includes both AAP's 49 days' rule and BJP's tenure at the Centre so far," Maken said.

Launching a scathing attack on former IPS officer Kiran Bedi and former AAP member Shazia Ilmi, who have joined BJP, Maken said, "The Congress campaign will highlight that our fight is against the opportunism of BJP and AAP. Bedi and Kejriwal are two sides of the same coin. These are politically ambitious people," he added.

Maken said that in case of AAP, Congress would launch its attack on Kejriwal. "However, in case of BJP, our contest is with the party," he asserted.