Congress faces INDIA siege as party eyes its old fort Delhi

NEW DELHI: Putting its all into the battle for Delhi, Congress will be stepping up its poll outreach to reclaim lost ground with Rahul Gandhi likely to hit the streets next week.
Congress proposes to set off the election campaign led by Gandhi hinged to the "Save the Constitution" narrative from East Delhi - an area once seen as the party's turf. Special focus will be on minorities, Dalits and weaker sections, which were the party's core votebank that moved to AAP in 2013, when the three-term Sheila Dikshit-led govt was ruthlessly ousted.
As the battle between Congress and AAP has been building up into bitter attacks from both sides with every passing day, former Delhi CM and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal's posts on X, since the announcement of poll dates, profusely thanking Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and West Bengal CM and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee for their "support", have yet again brought into focus the differences brewing among allies of the INDIA bloc.
However, Congress tried to downplay the development with party sources dismissing the remarks as reflective of the AAP supremo being on the backfoot and attempting to woo minority and Dalit voters by highlighting that he has the support of SP and TMC.
On Wednesday, Kejriwal in a post on X said, "TMC has announced support to AAP in Delhi elections. I am personally grateful to Mamata didi. Thank you didi. You have always supported and blessed us in our good and bad times." TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien shared Kejriwal's post and said, "We have your back AAP." TMC state general secretary Nilanjan Das also replied to Kejriwal, saying, "Best wishes to AAP", and shared a photo of the West Bengal CM with Kejriwal.
On Tuesday, Kejriwal shared a post of a news channel where it was claimed that SP has come forward to give support to AAP in the Delhi elections. In his post, he said he was very thankful to Akhilesh Yadav for always supporting AAP.
Amid noise of Congress's growing isolation in the INDIA bloc as allies like TMC and SP are seen to be rallying around AAP, Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav said, "There is no official statement from TMC and SP leaderships where they have come out to say that they are supporting AAP in Delhi. So, I will not comment on them". He lashed out at Kejriwal's posts on X on TMC and SP, saying, "It reflects he is weak. His remarks show that he is indulging in mere posturing to try and show he has support of allies." Yadav said, "These tactics of AAP do not affect Congress."