The Hindu : New Delhi News : BJP feels vindicated

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 24, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

BJP feels vindicated

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, AUG. 23. The Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party must be rejoicing over the stand of the Sheila Dikshit Government vis-à-vis the Congress-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi. It does not need to launch any agitation against the massive corruption in the Corporation as the job was being done by the Congress Government and its legislators in the Capital.

Interestingly, labelling its own Corporation as inefficient, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) at its marathon meeting held here today expressed serious concern over the continuous deterioration in the municipal services being offered to the people of Delhi and reiterated its resolve to work towards providing better services to the citizens. It also talked about providing a responsive administration in the civic body by restructuring and re-organising municipal governance. Charging the Chief Minister with running the Corporation through the MCD Commissioner, Rakesh Mehta, the Councillors are also reportedly planning to meet the senior party leaders in the AICC and apprise them about the dangerous implications of such a move. Instance of constant inference in the Corporation would be put before the high command that is likely to have a final say in this war of words.

For the BJP, it stood vindicated and the very fact that Congress Government and its legislators were pointing an accusing finger at the Corporation and charging its Councillors with corruption and inefficiency made it clear that nothing was working in the civic body. "This further fortifies our case for dismissal of the Corporation and the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, as well as the Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil should taken note of the declining situation and work towards to fulfilling the demand of the BJP," the Delhi BJP president, Harsh Vardhan, remarked.

In fact, this point is understood to have been made by some legislators who cautioned their own colleagues in the meeting not to bulldoze their brethren in the Corporation and thereby fall into the BJP's trap. "If the Congress Government led by its Chief Minister and party MLAs start calling the Corporation and its Councillors corrupt, then it will create a serious situation. Tomorrow the Councillors might rebut this by pointing an accusing finger at the MLAs," a senior Minister remarked.

Although, a majority of the Ministers agreed with the agenda of the meeting and even endorsed the viewpoint of the Chief Minister during the meeting, but some of them had reservations over the manner in which the whole show was being projected.

"Every effort has been made in the past few days to project the Congress-ruled Corporation as corrupt. The Government has been openly talking of division and the reason is not administrative reforms but the corrupt ways of the Councillors. This is a very unfortunate situation for the party and it would not do any good to the image of the party as such," a senior MLA added.

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