'Belligerent' veterans missing from Congress' plans for future

A day after the municipal election results were declared, the fault lines within the Congress party have become deeper. The Grand Old Party, which received a major thumbs down from the people of Delhi in the civic polls, seems to be in no mood to contact the veteran leaders who were not a part of campaigning this year.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 181 seats in the civic polls, Congress won 48, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 30.

The party is all set for a revival, but strong rumours are making rounds that former senior leaders will not be called in. Veteran leaders such as Sheila Dikshit, Haroon Yusuf, Dr AK Walia, Sandeep Dikshit, and Arvinder Singh Lovely had recently openly blamed the party's poor leadership for the disappointing results.

"If they considered themselves a part of the party, they should have joined the campaigning process on their own. They don't need any formal invitation for that. We are having serious discussions regarding the future, but that will not include these leaders," a senior party leader said.

Meanwhile, taking moral responsibility for the results, Delhi Congress Chief Ajay Maken resigned on Wednesday. He met with Party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday to submit his resignation. According to sources, Rahul Gandhi has asked PC Chacko to not accept the resignation.

"Maken is extremely close to Rahul Gandhi. Every step in the municipal polls this year was taken after a discussing it with Rahulji. He refused to accept Maken's resignation. As of now, Maken will continue to be the Delhi Congress Chief," a senior Congress leader said.