Congress MP Rahul Gandhi today said rival Aam Aadmi Party played a big role in the grand old party's poor show in the recently-concluded Gujarat Assembly elections, even claiming it would have defeated the ruling BJP if not for AAP.
"In Gujarat, AAP was the proxy," he said, reiterating his party's claim that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is the "B team" of the BJP and colluded with them to hurt Congress. AAP has rejected these allegations, insisting that it is the Congress that sided with the BJP to prevent its entry into Gujarat, where it had said it was surely forming the government.
Mr Gandhi attacked the BJP, accusing it again of "dividing India" and spreading hatred, while also trying to draw a line on what Congress should not aspire to be.
"The BJP is very clear about who they are, they divide India. They spread hate and they are very clear about who they are. The day the Congress understands what it is not, it will win every election it faces," he said.
About regional parties, he said they "don't have the vision" to defeat the BJP.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had also earlier told NDTV that AAP played a "big role" in its defeat. Alleging that AAP "lies everywhere it goes," Mr Gehlot, who was the grand old party's election in-charge in Gujarat, said AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal "did a lot of damage".
Ashok Gehlot also cited funding as one of the factors in the Congress's dismal performance. "Electoral bonds are a huge scandal. BJP gets unilateral funding through it, as those who donate to Congress are threatened," he had said.
The BJP trounced its main rival Congress, which is likely to lose the Leader of Opposition position in the new Assembly, with a historic win in Gujarat, which it has retained for the seventh consecutive term.
AAP had claimed it was the main rival to the BJP and would form the government. It did manage to get a foot in the door, by winning five seats, but fell way short of its lofty ambitions. Soon after there were rumours of its MLA being in touch with the BJP. However, none of them crossed over.
The BJP won 156 out of the total 182 seats, the best seat tally for any political party in Gujarat's electoral history, beating Congress' 37-year-old record of 149 seats in the 1985 elections. Until now, the BJP's best seat tally was 127 in the 2002 polls.
Congress, with just 17 seats, saw a major loss of fortunes from its 2017 tally of 77. This is Congress's lowest seat tally in Gujarat; its previous low was 33 seats in the 1990 elections.
"Not A Big Fan Of The House": Rahul Gandhi On His 10, Janpath Residence Watch: Rahul Gandhi Helps In Painting Work, Tries Pottery Before Diwali Video: "Kuch Nahi Bachta" - When Rahul Gandhi Visited A Delhi Barber UP Woman, Daughter, 2 Sons Shot Dead, Husband's Body Found Hours Later "Government Can't Take Over...": Big Supreme Court Order On Private Property Equatorial Guinea Civil Servant's Over 400 Sex Tapes Spark Massive Row Last Set Of Disengagement Between India, China Ended Oct 21: S Jaishankar Bank Holiday On Chhath: Banks To Close For 4 Days In These States MP TET Admit Card 2024 Out, Check Steps To Download Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.