PC Chacko says his statement on Sheila Dikshit was 'misinterpreted'

Hours after tendering his resignation, Senior Congress leader PC Chacko on Wednesday stated that his statement about Sheila Dikshit was misinterpreted. Chacko, in his statement, had earlier blamed Sheila Dikshit for the Congress party's downfall that began in 2013. 

Giving justification for his Sheila Dikshit remark, Chacko said, "I did not say that we lost in Sheilaji's time, it is being wrongly interpreted. We lost in 2013, even in 2014, 2015, and 2017. I know who the people behind all this issue are, there is a deliberate campaign against me and I have seen this earlier also."

Earlier today, during a conversation with a news agency, he had said, "The downfall of the Congress party started in 2013 when Sheilaji 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 remains with the AAP."

READ | Now, PC Chacko resigns as Delhi Congress poll-in charge; denies obvious party rift

PC Chacko Resigns

Delhi Congress chief PC Chacko on Wednesday offered his resignation from the party. In his exclusive interaction with Republic TV, he had stated that he is taking the moral responsibility of Congress losing the polls. He had also denied the rumours of a rift within the Congress. He also said that there are numerous reasons for the defeat. 

"I have resigned. I have taken the moral responsibility for this defeat. I was the in-charge of Congress for years. Congress president earlier asked me to continue till elections. No difference in the PCC, all are rumours. We held the conference yesterday, we spoke in one voice," he said.

He further went on to add, "There are many reasons for our defeat. I have resigned, don't want to comment. The Party does analyse every time, be it victory or loss. We lost it very badly. All I say is my personal opinion, our voting percentage was declining, I didn't blame anyone. I can only say, the party will decide on whether they want to change leadership or not. I can only submit my resignation, whether they accept or don't accept, it is the party's decision."

READ | PC Chacko blames late Sheila Dikshit after Delhi drubbing, draws criticism of Cong leaders

Delhi elections result

Soon after the counting of votes for the 70 seats of Delhi Assembly began at 8 am on Tuesday, the Aam Aadmi Party managed to take an early lead leaving Congress and BJP behind. Celebrations broke out at the AAP headquarters as early vote-counting trends showed a comfortable victory for the party. With time, the margins between AAP and BJP, Congress increased following which the Arvind Kejriwal-led registered a thumping victory.

While AAP's Sanjeev Jha recorded the biggest victory margin of over 88,000 votes from Burari, AAP's Amanatullah won Okhla with a margin of 71,000 votes. Patparganj constituency witnessed a neck to neck contest between AAP's Manish Sisodia and BJP's Ravinder Singh Negi with the latter leading throughout the counting only to trail behind Sisodia in the end. Sisodia, however, won with only a thin margin.

As per the Election Commission's final results, the Aam Aadmi Party won 62 seats, the BJP won 8 seats and Congress failed to secure any seats. 

READ | 'I take responsibility for Delhi Election debacle': State Congress chief Subhash Chopra

READ | Delhi Congress divided over Sandeep Dixit and PC Chacko letter

(With ANI inputs)