Sitting MP and Congress candidate from New Delhi Ajay Maken on Friday dismissed the contention that the loss of the Congress party in the Assembly and municipal elections was any indicator of his prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Replying to questions about his assessment of the defeat of former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit from the New Delhi Assembly seat with a huge margin, the AICC general secretary said: “The result of local elections have no bearing on the general election. I am seeking vote on the basis my performance and that of the UPA Government.”
Mr. Maken counted constitution of the Seventh Pay Commission, One Rank One Pension scheme for Army men, announcement of two dearness allowances of 10 per cent and renovation project of the government flats as achievements “that would ensure victory of the Congress candidates”.
“The Seventh Pay Commission has recently been formed. For first time it has also been announced that it will be implemented from February 2016. I The government also announced two dearness allowances of 10 per cent each. One Rank One Pension scheme for the Army men has been implemented. There is one constituency of Delhi Cantonment where retired personnel lives. We are getting good responses from people. I am confident of winning from my constituency,” he said, while spelling out the reasons for his optimism.
Enumerating the work done by him in his constituency, Mr. Maken said: “As Minister in the Union Ministry of Urban Development I initiated a Rs. 952 crore scheme for upgradation of all Central Government employees’ flats. In my constituency, there are 53,000 flats, out of which upgradation of 36,000 flats has already been done.”
The former Union Minister also played down the impact of the Aam Aadmi Party stating that “the party has been exposed after they failed to deliver when they were in power in Delhi for 49 days”.
