The escalating feud between the Congress and the AAP has added further strain to the INDIA bloc, which is facing a growing unease over the Grand Old Party’s leadership.

While the INDIA bloc is no stranger to constituents slugging it out in states — such as the Trinamool Congress vs Congress-Left in Bengal and the CPM-led LDF vs the Congress-helmed UDF in Kerala — the Delhi war of words has escalated at breakneck speed, riding mainly on the animosity the Delhi Congress harbours towards the AAP because of the India Against Corruption movement that laid the ground for the BJP to come to power in 2014.

Tension flared up after All India Congress Committee treasurer Ajay Maken labelled former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal “anti-national”.

In response, AAP demanded Maken’s removal from the alliance within 24 hours and warned they would ask other members of the INDIA bloc to throw the Congress out of the grouping if it failed to act against Maken within the deadline.

Delhi chief minister Atishi and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh — who mainly liaison with the INDIA bloc — claimed that the Congress and the BJP were working together to undermine the AAP’s prospects in the upcoming Delhi elections. About Maken, who addressed a media conference against Kejriwal on Wednesday, Singh said: “He is reading the BJP’s script.”

Stating that neither Maken nor the Congress had called any BJP leader “anti-national”, Atishi and Singh said the Congress was filing FIRs against Kejriwal, who had campaigned for the party in Delhi and Chandigarh. “Even in Haryana, we tried for an alliance till the very end but the Congress did not agree. We contested in Haryana but did not utter a word against the Congress or its leaders.”

The AAP duo alleged that Sandeep Dikshit and Farhad Suri, the Congress candidates for New Delhi and Jangpura seats from where Kejriwal and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia are contesting, were being funded by the BJP.

As for Maken saying that it was a blunder to have tied up with the AAP for the Lok Sabha elections, Singh said he should speak to his party leaders. Atishi asked: “If Kejriwal is anti-national, why did the Congress tie up with him for the Lok Sabha elections?”

Hours after the two AAP leaders sounded the ultimatum, other constituents of the INDIA bloc maintained a studied silence, watching the episode play out. The Congress, preoccupied with its special session in Belgavi, Karnataka, did not respond to the AAP.

For a month now, several constituents of the INDIA bloc have questioned the Congress’s ability to lead the fight against the BJP. The ball was set rolling by Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the subsequent weeks saw several other parties question the Congress leadership. These include the Samajwadi Party and the RJD’s Lalu Prasad, who even batted for Mamata as the INDIA leader. The Shiv Sena (UBT), too, has indicated that the leadership issue ought to be discussed.