Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan says Arvind Kejriwal will win in Delhi; retracts statement

Former CM Prithviraj Chavan retracts statement predicting Kejriwal's win in Delhi elections, clarifies Congress's strong position.

After making a statement on the likely outcome of the upcoming Delhi Assembly election, former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan has retracted the same. In a video clip which went viral, Mr. Chavan was heard saying, “Kejriwal will win.” He later clarified that his statement was taken out of context.

“I think Congress will do well. My statement was taken out of context. I don’t know much about the Delhi situation,” he told The Hindu on Thursday. Some leaders in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc have said that the Congress should have taken a secondary position and should have gone with Arvind Kejriwal. “It would have helped consolidate the votes against the BJP,” an INDIA bloc leader told The Hindu.

When asked about his thoughts on it, Mr. Chavan refused to comment. “My remarks on Delhi Assembly elections were interpreted out of context. If the INDIA bloc had fought together then the victory of the alliance would have been assured. Now that all major parties are in the fray, it has become an open election. The Congress party has gained tremendous momentum and I’m sure we will emerge victorious,” the leader posted on the social media platform X.

Soon after his statement, the Shiv Sena(UBT) said it considered both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as well as the Congress its friends, and that it would have preferred for the parties to come together to fight the Delhi elections. Sources in the Congress too said that the personal aspirations of a few leaders should have been kept aside to look at the larger benefit of the alliance.

The Congress leader’s statement has brought forth the sentiments of other alliance partners of the INDIA bloc, who have also chosen to rally behind Arvind Kejriwal. The Congress will be a part of the triangular fight in Delhi with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the AAP also in the contest.