Congress fought 2025 Delhi elections not to win, but to make BJP win: Saurabh Bharadwaj
New Delhi: After Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav admitted in an interview that his party contested the 2025 Assembly elections only to defeat the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and make BJP win, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj launched a blistering attack. He revealed that Congress’s top leadership gave a free hand to target every senior AAP leader, poured in ₹46 crore including ₹44 crore in cash without any ground campaign, and colluded with BJP in demolishing jhuggis and destroying livelihoods.
The senior AAP leader asked why Prime Minister Modi shouts over ₹1 crore received by AAP through cheque but stays silent on Congress’s ₹44 crore cash, and asserted that even Congress’ intellectual supporters must now question what their party is doing.
Addressing a press conference, AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “Normally, we only make guesses about one party supporting another to defeat a third. Political analysts keep making such assumptions in politics. The way Congress fought the Delhi Assembly elections, it seemed Congress was not contesting to win for itself, but rather to ensure the victory of the BJP. This is what the Aam Aadmi Party suspected.”
He asserted that we were closely observing where Congress candidates were running good campaigns, and from that, we could sense the larger picture. Even in Delhi, Congress still has 3 to 3.5 percent strong supporters, including intellectuals.
Referring to Congress supporters’ reaction, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Whenever we say that Congress perhaps helped BJP in the Delhi elections, Congress supporters get irritated. They are unable to accept this fact, and their anger is visible in their social media posts. We believe these intellectuals are concerned about the country.”
“That is why, whenever Congress is questioned, they get disturbed. Perhaps for the first time in India’s history, the Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav, in an interview months after the election, himself explained how Delhi Congress functionaries decided that this time even if BJP wins, Aam Aadmi Party must not be allowed to win. It is a very big revelation that Congress in Delhi was prepared to ensure BJP’s victory,” he added.
Emphasizing the scale of the conspiracy, the senior AAP leader said, “Congress did not take the decision to help BJP and defeat AAP in haste. In his interview, Devender Yadav was asked how Delhi Congress leaders convinced Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, because sometimes state units take wrong decisions without thinking of national interest. Congress leader Ajay Maken has been pursuing politics against Arvind Kejriwal for many years, and AAP had no problem with that. But the shocking disclosure was that when this matter came up for detailed discussion inside the Congress’ CEC (Central Election Committee) meeting, it was also discussed with Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi.”
He stated that after this, the Congress national leadership gave the green signal that in Delhi, no matter what has to be done—even if it means helping BJP win—Aam Aadmi Party must be defeated. Congress was already at zero in Delhi, and even after this election, it remained at zero.
Highlighting Congress’ targeting of AAP leaders, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Congress targeted every big leader of Aam Aadmi Party. Devender Yadav explained how Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia would be defeated, but from his mouth we did not hear how Parvesh Verma, Rekha Gupta, or Ramesh Bidhuri would be defeated. Farhad Suri was fielded specifically to defeat Manish Sisodia. Not even in the 1984 riots was such an ugly face of Congress visible. Today, when poor people’s jhuggis are being demolished in Delhi and bulldozers are being run on their livelihoods, the poor think that if Arvind Kejriwal’s government were there, no one would dare demolish their homes. But Congress said that to defeat Arvind Kejriwal, it would put in its entire strength.”
The AAP Delhi State President added, “In the 2025 Assembly elections, AAP, which has been in power in Delhi for 10 years, spent around only ₹14 crore. The country’s largest party BJP spent ₹57 crore, and Congress spent around ₹46.18 crore. Even after spending ₹46 crore, Congress got nothing. AAP received only ₹2,000 in cash donations, while Congress got ₹44 crore in cash. The money spent in elections has to be accounted for, which is why parties are supposed to spend only white money. Cash can be collected, but the Election Commission has imposed a limit that no cash donation above ₹2,000 can be taken. To collect ₹44 crore in cash, millions of people would have had to give ₹2,000 each. For this, a campaign has to be run. But no Congress campaign was visible on the ground.”
On the demand for investigation, he pointed out, “We also demanded an investigation into Congress receiving ₹44 crore in cash, but the BJP government does not want any probe into this. When AAP received two cheques of ₹50 lakh each, PM Modi said that in the darkness of night, Arvind Kejriwal received ₹1 crore. But when Congress received ₹44 crore in broad daylight, BJP had no concern. Because Congress received ₹44 crore to defeat Arvind Kejriwal, and BJP benefited from it. Just as BJP captured power riding on regional parties, similarly Congress thinks it can crush regional parties and capture power.”
“In Bihar, the voters, cadre, and flag-bearers belong to Tejashwi Yadav, but free marketing is being done for Rahul Gandhi. On the ground, Congress has no cadre, no polling agents, yet the slogan raised is ‘Zindabad Rahul Gandhi,’” he further added.
Appealing to Congress supporters, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “We also urge Congress supporters to watch the interview of Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav and reflect on it.”
Pointing to the larger conspiracy, he continued, “In the interview, when Devender Yadav was asked how Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge were convinced to defeat AAP and ensure BJP’s victory, he explained the entire plot of how Congress hatched this conspiracy. Aam Aadmi Party demands that Congress’s top leadership should also tell the people of the country what compulsion forced them to ensure BJP’s victory and Aam Aadmi Party’s defeat. Congress supporters themselves believe that BJP’s ideology is divisive and spreads hatred. That is why they support Congress.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj asserted that wherever Congress supporters feel Congress is weak and another party can stand against BJP’s ideology, they rally behind that party. In Delhi, Congress betrayed its own voters and handed over power to BJP. The result of that betrayal is that today the people of Delhi are suffering from every kind of hardship.
Meanwhile, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia took to ‘X’ and wrote: “Whatever Congress did during the Delhi assembly elections to make BJP win was clearly visible behind the scenes, but now Delhi Congress state president Devendra Yadav himself has come on camera and admitted that it was true that Congress fought the elections in Delhi not to win, but to make BJP win. The sooner we understand that Congress is sitting in the lap of BJP, the better it will be for this country. Otherwise, as always, these people will form an alliance from behind the scenes and keep hatching such conspiracies against the parties working for the people.”
On the other hand, senior AAP leader and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Atishi, wrote on X: “People of Delhi have now come to know the truth, BJP and Congress had conspired together to defeat Arvind Kejriwal. This is not an allegation, but an admission by the Delhi Congress President himself. Both the parties pretend to fight on the surface, but maintain friendship behind the scenes. The public should be careful. This fight is between the public versus the BJP-Congress collusion.”
