New Delhi, May 9: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday made a scathing attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ahead of polling on seven seats of Lok Sabha in Delhi. Addressing a public meeting, Rahul Gandhi said it was Congress and not the AAP that fought against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Rahul Gandhi said instead of fighting the BJP, the AAP brought them to power. "In last elections, AAP's slogan in Delhi was 'Dilli mein CM Kejriwal Ji, Hindustan mein PM Narendra Modi Ji'. They had opened gates for Narendra Modi. Congress and I have fought Narendra Modi Ji across the country," the Congress chief said. He said the AAP was making excuses that they had been stopped from carrying out works.

"I saw AAP posters 'Hum kaam karte hain, wo kaam rokte hain'. You didn't say this earlier when you contested elections. You are in power now. Small traders - Delhi's backbone is being broken. Sealing is underway and you say you can't do anything? Congress had stopped this in Parliament," Gandhi said. The remarks came a day after AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were running away from a direct fight with the BJP.

"She (Priyanka) is wasting her time in the national capital, why doesn’t she campaign in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh? She’s doing rallies in Uttar Pradesh against SP-BSP, she’s doing rallies in Delhi against the AAP. Both the brother and sister aren’t going to those places where there’s a direct fight with the BJP," Kejriwal said. Delhi goes to polls on Sunday. The results would be announced on May 23. Arvind Kejriwal Sets Precondition to Back Rahul Gandhi or Nitin Gadkari or Mamata Banerjee As Prime Minister.

The talks for an alliance in Delhi between Congress and AAP failed after the latter demanded to extend the proposed coalition to Haryana. The Congress was agreeable on a formula according to which the party would have fought three of the seven seats and four would have gone to the AAP. However, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party was also keen to have an alliance in Haryana which the Congress rejected.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 09, 2019 09:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).