PC Chacko resigns as Congress in-charge of Delhi

Congress leader P.C. Chacko has tendered his resignation as the in-charge of Delhi Congress party, on the back of the abysmal assembly poll performance, the Times of India reported. 

Chacko was made in-charge of Delhi Congress in November 2014. There were calls for Chacko to resign after the 2019 Lok Sabha poll debacle. Under the stewardship of Chacko, the Congress was engaged in long-drawn discussion over pre-poll alliance with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which did not materialise, but caused delay in announcement of party candidates in Delhi.

Earlier, Chacko had ticked off a section of Congress leaders by blaming the late CM Sheila Dikshit for the Congress defeat. "The downfall of the Congress party started in 2013 when Sheila was the CM. The emergence of a new party AAP took away the entire Congress vote bank. We could never get it back. It still remains with AAP," he had told ANI.  

Congress leader Milind Deora had countered the same. "Sheila Dikshit ji was a remarkable politician and administrator. During her tenure as Chief Minister, Delhi was transformed and Congress was stronger than ever. She dedicated her life to Congress and the people of Delhi," said Deora in a Tweet.  

He had also expressed hope that Chacko had told ANI: "Any alliance will depend on the election results which is on February 11. Once the outcome we get, we can think about it or discuss it. It is too early now." He also added that exit polls could be wrong, according to the news agency. "The prediction is that Congress will be seen to be reduced to zero. However, the exit poll results are not always correct as was seen during the election results in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand". 

More heads are expected to roll. Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra had earlier resigned from his post, taking moral responsibility for the party's debacle in the assembly polls. The Congress drew a blank for the second time in a row and reduced its vote share from 9.7 per cent in 2015 to 4.27 per cent this time. "I take moral responsibility for the party's debacle and have resigned," he said. The grand old party, which ruled Delhi for 15 years on the trot under former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, was out of the race in each of the 70 constituencies by distant margins with 63 of its candidates losing their security deposits.

The Congress did not win any seat in the 2015 assembly elections but had managed to garner a 9.7 per cent vote share. This time, it stood decimated further after it ceded its vote bank. Only three candidates—Arvinder Singh Lovely from Gandhi Nagar, Devender Yadav from Badli and Abhishek Dutt from Kasturba Nagar—could save their deposits.