New Delhi: Union minister Jairam Ramesh yesterday asked the political class not to make fun of Aam Aadmi Party and warned them that the newbie can take different avatars in states on the “legitimate issues” it had been raising. The Congress leader also said that Communists are the only political groups in the country that are free from the “diseases” like lavish lifestyle and “vulgar display of wealth”.
“We cannot ignore Aam Aadmi Party... Because what they are agitating about—corruption, austerity in politics, simplicity in politics—these are legitimate values,” the Rural Development Minister said.
“Today Congress party is thinking about it (AAP). But the BJP has already lost its sleep due to Aam Aadmi Party. Prakash Karat is saying we are the Aam Aadmi Party. If Badals (in Punjab) don't mend their ways, then Aam Aadmi Party will also eat up the Akali Dal. AAP is like Dashavatar. In different states it can have different avatars,” said Ramesh, who is also a key Congress strategist.
His statement came two days after his Cabinet colleague Manish Tewari took a dig at Arvind Kejriwal's party saying other political parties should not be too worried, frustrated and disappointed with its success because several parties have come and became history soon and AAP will soon disappear from the Indian political landscape.
Tewari had also rejected Ramesh's comment that other parties should learn from AAP, saying that the comment was his own opinion and not the Congress view. “Don't make fun of them. Making fun of them would be proved wrong,” Ramesh said.
In an apparent reference to the Congress' defeat mainly at the hands of AAP in the Delhi Assembly polls, he said, “If we had brought Lokpal Bill two years ago, we wouldn't have been facing the problems we are.”
Talking to reporters here, the Congress leader showered praises on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, CPI(M) leaders, particularly Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and BJP's Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for their simple life style.
