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Show cause notice to Satbir Singh likely

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JAN.13. Warning that he would not tolerate indiscipline at any cost in the party, the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president, Chaudhary Prem Singh, today termed as "unfortunate and unwanted'' the remarks by the Leader of the House in MCD, Satbir Singh, that he did not recognise the authority of Mr. Prem Singh in matters relating to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The party is contemplating issuing a show cause notice to Mr. Satbir Singh and others involved in the embarrassing incident.

In a move that is likely to create ripples within the party, the DPCC president also removed the former Outer Delhi Member of Parliament, Sajjan Kumar, as the in-charge of MCD affairs with immediate effect. He said that former Union Minister, Jagdish Tytler, who was made in-charge to coordinate with the Delhi Government, had also requested that he should be withdrawn from the post in view of the Lok Sabha polls. However, it is the removal of Mr. Kumar that is likely to widen the rift within the party, much to the delight of the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit. In fact, Mr. Prem Singh has not taken kindly to the outburst of Mr. Satbir Singh, who is considered close to Mr. Kumar and also the Rohtas Nagar MLA, Ram Babu Sharma.

It is learnt that Mr. Prem Singh brought the matter to the notice of the AICC leader in-charge Delhi, Ahmed Patel, who is understood to have asked Mr. Prem Singh to proceed accordingly.

Angry at the attempts to question his authority and that of the party high command, Mr. Prem Singh said the statement by Mr. Satbir Singh violated the party discipline and his assertion that he did not recognise the Deputy Leaders of the House in MCD amounted to contempt of the party high command and violation of party's code of conduct. "Mr. Satbir Singh had no authority to question the nomination of these leaders and said all these appointments were only for three months and fresh names would be nominated after the expiry of this period. He reminded Mr. Satbir Singh that the Congress had a great tradition of taking decisions by consensus and selecting the right candidate for the right job. It was the prerogative of the party high command to decide who has to be entrusted with what job. In fact, Mr. Satbir Singh should be thankful to the party high command for giving him this opportunity and should not question the DPCC president's authority or that of the party leadership.

He said that with the Lok Sabha elections only months away, the party rank and file should sink their differences and work as a single unit to strengthen the hands of the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, to fight the communal forces.

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