The Hindu : East Delhi ticket for Sheila's son?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 26, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

East Delhi ticket for Sheila's son?

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25. Amid strong lobbying by various factions for the party ticket, the Congress Central Election Committee is likely to take up discussion of the party candidates for the seven Lok Sabha seats from Delhi this coming week-end. In fact, some members of the Sheila Dikshit Cabinet have already met the party leader in charge of Delhi affairs, Ahmed Patel, pushing for the candidature of Sandeep Dikshit, son of the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, for the East Delhi Lok Sabha seat.

Sources in the party told The Hindu that the party president, Sonia Gandhi, summoned both Ms. Dikshit and the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president, Chaudhary Prem Singh, during the CEC meeting last evening. It is learnt that Ms. Gandhi and other members of the CEC sought their views on the recommendations of the Screening Committee headed by the senior Congress leader, Shivraj Patil. The Screening Committee, it is understood, has sent a panel of names from each constituency with remarks against the name of the individual candidate and his winning potential. The CEC reportedly sought to know about the credentials of certain individuals and stressed that party ticket should be given to only those with a clean image and who can win the seat. Later, it is learnt that Ms. Gandhi had a closed-door meeting with Ms. Dikshit and it was decided that discussion and decision regarding Delhi be taken up on March 27 or the next day.

It is understood that the name of Mr. Sandeep Dikshit had cropped up during the meetings of the Screening Committee but had not been pushed by the Chief Minister herself. In fact, Mr. Patel has handed over the letter written by nearly 15 legislators in support of Mr. Dikshit to the Congress president and she has been apprised of all the developments. A group of Ministers and MLAs led by the Urban Development Minister, A.K. Walia, also met Mr. Patel at his residence late this evening and sought to impress upon the need to field Mr. Dikshit from East Delhi Lok Sabha seat in view of the mass support in his favour. Others contenders from this seat include the sitting MLA from Babarpur, Vinay Sharma and three-time legislator, Bhisham Sharma.

On the other hand, the party is understood to have finalised the names of Ajit Chadha, Major Dalbir Singh and R.K. Anand in the panel for the South Delhi seat. However, Mr. Chadha appears to be a frontrunner for the party nomination in view of the written submission given by the elected representatives and party functionaries of South Delhi in his favour. Being a Sikh and a person with a clean image is also expected to work in favour of Mr. Chadha who also has the backing of top AICC leaders.

Similarly, former Union Minister, Karan Singh's name has been recommended from the New Delhi and Chandni Chowk constituencies. However, it is learnt that Dr. Singh is keen on contesting from New Delhi against the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, Jagmohan. On the other hand, former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler appears to be a clear favourite in the Sadar parliamentary constituency while the Deputy Speaker of the Delhi Assembly, Krishna Tirath, has emerged as a strong contender for the Karol Bagh (SC) seat.

However, the party is still in a fix over the Outer Delhi Lok Sabha seat and is in two minds about whom to field. The senior party leader, Sajjan Kumar, has been lobbying hard to secure the party nomination and has found favour with some AICC leaders. At the same time, the Chief Minister's camp is backing the three-time Hastsal legislator, Mukesh Sharma, for this seat and a final decision is likely to be taken by the Congress president. In view of Dr. Karan Singh's reluctance to take the field in Chandni Chowk, the party would have to search for a Muslim candidate from this constituency. However, it could field a woman candidate like the sitting MLA, Anjali Rai, who could win the day for the party with some aggressive campaigning and community combinations.

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