PC Chacko quits as Delhi Congress in-charge after poll debacle, blames Sheila Dikshit for party downfall

New Delhi: Congress Delhi in-charge P. C. Chacko tendered his resignation from his post on Wednesday to party interim President Sonia Gandhi. The resignation comes a day after the party's dismal performance in the Delhi Assembly polls in which it scored a zero.

Senior Congress leader PC Chacko on Wednesday blamed late Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for the downfall of the party in the region.

Speaking to reporters, Chacko said that AAP took away the entire Congress vote bank.

"The downfall of the Congress party started in 2013 when Sheila ji was the Chief Minister. The emergence of a new party Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) took away the entire Congress vote bank. We could never get it back. It still remains with the AAP," he said before submitting his resignation.

This is the second resignation in the party following its complete rout in the Assembly poll.

On Tuesday evening, party State chief Subhash Chopra quit after owning the defeat. He said that he could not do much for the



party, and hence was leaving the post.

This is not the first time that Chacko has offered his resignation from the Delhi in-charge post. Last year also he had put in his papers, but was asked to stay on till the elections.

After Tuesday's poor showing, the rift within the party is now out in the open with the first salvo coming from Sharmistha Mukherji on Twitter, who said "we should shut shop" while attacking former union minister P. Chidambaram after he expressed happiness about the BJP's dismal show in the Delhi Assembly elections.

The Congress, which ruled the state for 15 years, could not perform well in the elections, and the local leaders were quick to put the blame on the central leaders.

Congress leaders from former chief minister late Sheila Dikshit's camp attacked Chacko over leaking a letter written by her son Sandeep Dikshit, a two-time MP, in which he had alleged that "Chacko was responsible for the death of the former Chief Minister, who was under immense pressure from the Delhi in-charge".