The Hindu : New Delhi News : A setback for Sheila camp

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

A setback for Sheila camp

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI, JULY 19. The Congress high command's decision to nominate Chaudhary Prem Singh as the party's candidate for the post of Delhi Assembly Speaker despite opposition by the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, and the Member of Parliament from Outer Delhi, Sajjan Kumar, has come as a major setback to Ms. Dikshit and her camp, according to political observers here. The move also signals changing political equations in the AICC.

The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, cleared the name of Mr. Singh for the post of the Speaker, which had fallen vacant in view of the election of the Speaker, Ajay Maken, to Parliament. It is learnt that the AICC general secretary, Ambika Soni, and the political secretary to the Congress president, Ahmed Patel, were instrumental in the nomination of Mr. Singh, giving a fillip to the anti-Dikshit camp. "The signal is loud and clear for the party legislators in Delhi. It is time to take on the Chief Minister and ensure creation of a parallel power centre in the Delhi set-up. This could well mark the beginning of another dissidence movement in Delhi which could be supported by those in the AICC,'' remarked a senior Minister.

While Ms. Dikshit claimed till late last evening that discussions were on with the party leadership over the issue, the matter had been decided by the high command on July 17 and Mr. Singh had been informed about the same. Insiders in the party informed that Mr. Singh had been asked to resign as the DPCC chief on Friday itself and prepare for taking up his old assignment once again. Mr. Singh had, at one point, been offered the post of Governor of Haryana, which he had declined. His candidature for Speaker was supported by the Union Minister of State for NRI Affairs, Jagdish Tytler, CWC special invitee, Pervez Hashmi, former Deputy Speaker, Kiran Chaudhary, and others in the anti-Sheila camp. It is understood that Mr. Singh had met both Ms. Soni and Mr. Patel last week and apprised them about his contribution to the Congress party and his unblemished track record on the political front. He had pointed out that justice was not being done to him and his detractors were out to destroy his political career.

On the other hand, Ms. Dikshit, despite advice by some sane elements within the party, had been supporting the candidature of the former Minister, Narendra Nath, for the post of the Speaker. Observers say that she wanted to elevate Mr. Nath and install her son as the chairman of the Trans-Yamuna Development Board. Her detractors were able to impress the high command that she was getting too powerful.

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