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An open war broke out in the Congress over its whitewash in the Delhi elections with senior leader Sheila Dikshit attacking chief ministerial candidate Ajay Maken, while his supporters virtually asking her to shut up.
Knives were out in the party with Congress in charge of the party affairs in Delhi P C Chacko and Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Arvinder Singh Lovely strongly coming out backing the beleaguered Maken.
"I just pity him. Maken was not the way to put the right focus. He thought he would do all by himself. He did not involve anyone else. Quite obviously his style did not help the party," 76-year-old Dikshit said, in a no-holds- barred attack on her younger rival.
Dikshit appeared to fault the last-minute decision to bring in Maken saying "change was made in the last minute."
"Maken could not enthuse the party. He failed to highlight the achievements of the Congress governments in the 15 years. It was not my achievement. It was Congress' achievement. They should have taken my name (during the campaign). Had they done it, the party would have done better," she told PTI.
P C Chacko hit back at Dikshit saying it was better for Dikshit to keep silence and that the party does not endorse her views. Lovely said there was no point giving advice after the polls.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi asks partymen to stop squabbling in public over the results.
