Infighting in the Delhi Congress took an ugly turn with a woman worker of the party levelling allegations of bribe for election tickets. Rachna Sachdeva, a district president of the Mahila Congress in Delhi, alleged mental harassment and criminal intimidation by Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken, the party's women wing president Shobha Oza and leader Netta D'Souza. Sachdeva had already reported the matter to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
Her complaint comes just ahead of the Delhi municipal corporation polls on April 23.
In her complaint filed at the Tughlaq Road police station on April 12, Sachdeva, the Babarpur district president of Mahila Congress, alleged that Maken demanded hefty money through his cohorts for MCD poll tickets. Following this, she said that she — along with 100-odd supporters — protested outside Rahul Gandhi's residence on March 26.
Sachdeva alleges in her complaint that Gandhi asked her to return the next day with evidence but Maken threatened her saying: "We will deal with you after the elections." She also alleged that she was "repeatedly abused and threatened and subjected to mental harassment."
While Maken did not respond to calls and messages, Oza called it a conspiracy against the Congress ahead of the municipal polls. "These are all allegations strategically made ahead of the civic polls. Why has she chosen to file the complaint more than 15 days after the alleged incident? She is simply playing into the hands of the BJP," Oza said.
"If she has evidence against us, we are ready for a probe," she added.
Sachdeva further alleged that when she tried to return to the Akbar Road office to meet Gandhi, she was threatened by Oza and D'Souza and was confined in the office by the duo.
It is not the first time that the Congress has been accused of irregularities in ticket distribution for the MCD polls. Earlier, senior Congress leader and former Delhi minister A K Walia and three-time MLA Amrish Singh Gautam had quit the party citing similar reasons.
