The Hindu : New Delhi News : All out war for Speaker's post

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 14, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

All out war for Speaker's post

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JULY 13. The battle for the post of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Delhi Assembly has shifted to the court of the Congress high command even as the faction led by the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, and the DPCC president, Chaudhary Prem Singh, have intensified their lobbying with the party high command. The budget session of the Assembly is scheduled to begin on July 20 with the election of the Speaker being on the top of the agenda.

On the other hand, the actions of Mr. Prem Singh as pro-tem Speaker are likely to create embarrassment for the Congress party in the coming days. Mr. Singh has been virtually functioning like a normal Speaker and having access to official files and work. What is surprising is that Mr. Singh has gone ahead and re-constituted the Business Advisory Committee (BAC), a function only an elected Speaker can perform. He has dissolved the Committee's constituted by the previous Speaker, Ajay Maken, and constituted new ones, much to the chagrin of the Assembly Secretariat staff. Mr. Prem Singh has also been writing to the Delhi Government Ministers and the Chief Minister under the letterhead of the Speaker, something that is unconstitutional.

As for the election of the Speaker, it would be the first agenda when the Delhi Assembly meets on July 20 for the budget session. While the faction led by the Union Minister for NRI Affairs, Jagdish Tytler, is pushing the name of Mr. Prem Singh for the post, the Chief Minister is learnt to be favouring the candidature of former Minister, Narendra Nath. As for the post of the Deputy Speaker, the Congress is having second thoughts on the issue. There is strong resentment within the party over the reported move by some people within the party to give this post to Janata Dal (S) MLA, Shoaib Iqbal. The Congress Legislature Party is of the view that this post should remain with the Congress party and one of its nominees, probably a woman should be asked to fill in the post. It is also learnt that the former Speaker, Subhash Chopra, is also being mentioned for this job and could turn out to be the dark horse in the race.

For the Speaker's post, the name of senior party leader, Tajdar Babar is also doing rounds but she could face opposition from some quarters including the Chief Minister. It is also learnt that senior party leader, S.C. Vats is also a strong contender for the post but his candidature is still not got the backing of Ms. Dikshit. The two-time Model Town MLA, Kanwar Karan Singh, is also in the race for the post of either the Speaker or Deputy Speaker from the Jat quota. Mr. Karan Singh is closely related to the Union Labour Minister, Sish Ram Ola, and is strongly lobbying for grabbing any of the posts. It is understood that the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, will hold discussions this weekend with the AICC leader in-charge Delhi, Ahmed Patel, Ms. Dikshit and the AICC secretary, Anil Shastri, for deciding the party's choice for the post of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker. Both the posts had fallen vacant following the elevation of Mr. Maken and the former Deputy Speaker, Krishna Tirath, to Parliament.

It is learnt that Mr. Prem Singh, who faces stiff opposition to this candidature from Ms. Dikshit and the Outer Delhi Member of Parliament, Sajjan Kumar, has also sent a letter to the Congress president seeking endorsement of his candidature for the post of the Speaker. This development comes close on the heels of the offer made by the Congress leadership to Mr. Prem Singh for taking up the post of the Governor of Haryana, a vacancy that finally went to the Rajya Sabha member, A.R. Kidwai.

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