Devender Yadav is the president of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC). He is also the party in-charge for Punjab, and has been fielded by Congress from Badli constituency, which he had represented earlier.

Yadav talks about the forthcoming assembly elections in Delhi and current political situation in the national capital. He exuded confidence of the Congress win in the polls stating there is strong “anti-incumbency” against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). He also asserted that BJP had never been the choice of Delhi in the last few Assembly elections.

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Elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly is scheduled to be held in a single phase on February 5.

 Q: The Congress has given five guarantees to Delhi ahead of the polls. What would you like to tell the people ahead of the polls?

 A: I would appeal to people to choose the right party, which had earlier worked for the development of Delhi. The condition of Delhi has worsened in the past 10 years. Today,  pollution, unemployment and inflation are at peak. The Arvind Kejriwal government or BJP government at the Centre made promises, but they completely failed to deliver in reality.

 But, the Congress does what it says. We have done it before and will do it again. Only the Congress can fulfil the needs of Delhi.

 Q: You have been accusing the BJP of being hand in glove with AAP despite the fact that the Congress-AAP combine fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together in Delhi. What is your take on this?

 A: The BJP is hand in glove with AAP. The AAP has directly helped BJP to form governments whether it was in Goa, Gujarat and Haryana. Despite not having so much presence in those states, the AAP contested the assembly elections and helped the BJP to form governments there. Had they been not hand in glove with BJP, they would not have been playing at the hands of RSS.

They (AAP) have been pursuing the line of RSS, especially when I talk about SC, ST, OBC and minorities, you will come across several names who raised their voice for these segments were shunted out of the party, whether it was Raj Kumar Anand, Rajendra Pal Gautam or any other senior leader who have deserted them accusing them of the same that I am talking about.

Yes, we were in an alliance with the AAP at the national level during the Lok Sabha elections. But, immediately after the elections, we realised it was faulty on our part to have an alliance with this party. Then, we decided to go all alone. Ever since the Lok Sabha elections were over, we have been raising the issues of Delhi whether its law and order situation, unemployment, inflation, Yamuna, liquor scam, class room scam and health sector scam. We have been targeting not only the AAP government but also the BJP party at the Centre.

 We are also of the opinion that because of the hand in glove of the BJP and AAP, they tried to suppress 14 CAG reports (pending tabling in Delhi Assembly). One of these reports clearly says that there has been losses of Rs 382 crore, the other excise report clearly mentions about Rs 2,000 crore corruption.

Q: Who is the Congress’ chief ministerial face? How many seats the Congress party is eyeing?

A: When it comes to the chief ministerial face, our party’s leadership decides on the advice of the elected members. So, as far as the chief ministerial candidate is concerned, we have many eligible CM candidates. It all depends on the party’s leadership and the elected members. They will be the right person to decide that.

The sentiment of people is totally against AAP and BJP. There is huge “anti-incumbency” against AAP whether it is corruption or non-delivery of their promises. There is corruption in everything and they have failed miserably. The BJP had never been the choice of Delhi in the last few Assembly elections. People in general are voting against the two governments.

Congress is the common enemy of AAP and BJP and people want to vote against these people. The public may give us 62 out of 70 Assembly seats. The Congress has done much much more than what happened in Delhi in the last 10 years.

Q: Will the Congress go for a post poll alliance with AAP ?

A: There is no chance of a post-poll alliance.

Q: You are contesting from Badli, the seat which you had represented earlier also.   

A: The BJP was never a choice of Badli people in the last few elections. The anti-incumbency  of the current AAP MLA is huge as he has not been able to deliver anything. I am getting a huge response from the people of Badli.