Congress candidate from the North West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, Udit Raj, on Monday sought to blame his own party and the Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress’ INDIA bloc partner, for his defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to news agency ANI, Raj said that his campaign was sabotaged internally and claimed that BJP’s internal surveys had suggested a clear victory for him.

“BJP’s internal survey showed I would win. My campaign was sabotaged internally by my own party,” Raj was quted as saying by ANI.

“Internally, regularly for 2 months, a conspiracy was being rooted against me in North-west Delhi. Congress party workers ran an anti-Brahmin and anti-Jaat campaign on social media and said that I was an outsider,” Raj said, hitting out at his own party.

The Congress leader further said that those responsible for his Lok Sabha defeat were being promoted internally and also highlighted a disconnect between the local and national units of the Congress party. “There exist many Congress in Delhi, one that runs at the local level and one that runs at the National level… BJP did not oppose at any level but our own party workers played cards against me. The same people are rising through the ranks in the party. People responsible for the loss of the party are being promoted,” he said.

Taking a shot at the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party, Raj said that AAP leaders acted against him due to the fear that their own voters may shift to the Congress in the upcoming Assembly elections. ” In the end, AAP MLAs developed an understanding that once people vote for Congress, they might not vote for AAP in the upcoming Delhi Vidhan Sabha Elections…,” he added.

Udit Raj contested the Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket from the North West Delhi constituency. He was pitted against Yogender Chandoliya of the Bharatiya Janata Party and lost by a margin of over 2.9 lakh votes. A former civil servant, he served as a Member of Parliament between 2014 and 2019 in the Lok Sabha, representing North West Delhi as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party but left the party after its first term.