"The Worst Government For Democracy": Congress' Sandeep Dikshit Targets BJP

Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Tuesday hit out at the Centre and the Delhi Government, saying that there is no difference between the policies of these two.

Talking to ANI, Mr Dikshit said that the central government is "the worst" one for democracy.

"The way the central government is working, it is the worst government for the welfare of the poor, and democracy. Neither the poor nor the country has got any benefit from its performance...There is no difference in policies between AAP and BJP..." the Congress leader said.

He further said that Congress should not repeat the same mistake that was committed by several parties that had supported Jan Sangh to defeat the Indira Gandhi government after the emergency.

"We should think about whether we are not repeating the same mistake committed in 1977 by several political parties to extend their support to Jan Sangh against Congress because it was only Jan Sangh that started the politics of division. I will put my stand on this and will see what the party thinks," Mr Dikshit said.

The fight to preserve democracy was the main agenda for the 1977 general elections. The Janata Party contested elections with a motive to topple the Congress government under Indira Gandhi.

Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared an Emergency in 1975 -- invoking dictatorial powers -- which pushed several key opposition leaders behind bars, including Morarji Desai and Jayaprakash Narayan.

The Bharatiya Jan Sangh, Bharatiya Lok Dal, Congress (O), and Socialist Party were among the groups that came together to establish the party.

Eventually, the party split and Indira Gandhi stormed back to power.

Further, hitting out at AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, Mr Dikshit reiterated that the Centre's Ordinance on Delhi services was "right" and the former was opposing it because he had to save himself from corruption cases.

"When I said that the ordinance (Delhi NCT services) is right and that he (Arvind Kejriwal) was trying to save himself as they had corruption cases against them. If he had any issue in administering Delhi, he could have done something in the education department or health department. He doesn't have to do anything with the Delhi administration, he was just trying to save himself by opposing the ordinance," Sandeep Dikshit said.

This is not the first time that the son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is launching barbs at Mr Kejriwal.

Earlier this month, Mr Dikshit blamed Delhi Chief Minister, after the Bill to replace the ordinance for control of services in Delhi was passed in Parliament, saying his running power tussle and bitter exchanges with the Centre resulted in the draft legislation on the control of services in the national capital.

The draft legislation on Delhi services was passed by the Parliament this month after the Rajya Sabha secured its passage by a comfortable margin.

Congress was among the Opposition parties, which extended support to the AAP in its bid to thwart the passage of the Bill in Parliament after the two parties came together as part of the grand Opposition bloc — INDIA.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)