The Hindu : For Congress, the buck stops at Sonia's door

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 04, 2004

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For Congress, the buck stops at Sonia's door

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI JAN. 3. Why is the issue of electing a new Leader of the House in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi hanging fire? The answer is: the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, is holding on to the decision. Why are certain posts in the MCD lying vacant? The answer is: Ms. Gandhi's approval is awaited. This, in fact, is the common refrain of a majority of Congress leaders in Delhi who do not think twice before dropping the name of the Congress president.

Things were no different when the matter of nominating a Councillor to the post of Chairman of the MCD Standing Committee cropped up. All the Delhi leaders involved in the exercise kept blaming the Congress president for the delay in the election of the new Chairman. It is another matter that hectic lobbying and intense bargaining by various factions to show each other in poor light delayed matters. "It has become common with a number of Delhi Congress leaders to indulge in name-dropping whenever some crisis or problem arises. Another name prominently used by these leaders, mostly Congress dissidents, is that of the All-India Congress Committee general secretary, Ambika Soni,'' remarked a senior party leader.

In fact, petty matters that should either be decided by the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee or the Delhi Government are made into prestigious issues. Things that should be decided at the local level are kept pending in the name of the Congress president. Sometimes, Ms. Gandhi's preoccupation with important national matters is cited as the reason for not taking a decision on a particular issue and sometimes urgent organisational matters are given as the reason for the continued delay. However, the fact is that the power brokers in the party in Delhi strike deals and exploit the name of senior AICC leaders or Ms. Gandhi in such situations. "Interestingly, the delay in election of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader and then the constitution of the new Council of Ministers was also put at the doorstep of the Congress president by the vested interests within the Delhi Congress. It is another matter that there was total lack of consensus at the local level on these issues,'' a senior leader stated.

Now that the issue of nomination of Leader of the House in MCD has to be settled, again the same old story has started doing the rounds. "Ms. Gandhi is handling the whole situation. It is only after she gives her approval that a new leader will be elected. We are loyal soldiers of the party and will go by her decision,'' a Congress MLA remarked.

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For Congress, the buck stops at Sonia's door