The Hindu : New Delhi News : Factionalism out in the open

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

New Delhi

New Delhi

Factionalism out in the open

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, AUG. 23. The latest incident of ouster of a senior official of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has once again highlighted the internal factionalism in the Delhi Congress. The removal of G.S. Matharoo, private secretary to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi Commissioner, is being seen as part of a fall-out of the factional war, which is likely to intensify in the coming days.

It is learnt that Mr. Matharoo was removed from his present position due to complaints by the Congress MLAs and Ministers about his conduct in dealing with the elected representatives. However, officials informed that Mr. Matharoo had been a victim of the infighting within the Congress and was transferred from his present posting due to his reported close proximity to the Rohtas Nagar MLA, Ram Babu Sharma, and his supporters in the Corporation.

It is understood that the Chief Minister had reportedly been told that after his return to active politics, Mr. Sharma had been frequently visiting the Corporation and was involved in the day-to-day affairs of the civic body. A number of MLAs gave a feedback to the Chief Minister that the MCD Commissioner, Rakesh Mehta, was hardly accessible and everything there was being run by Mr. Matharoo and therefore he had to be removed.

However, officials said that whatever the conduct of Mr. Matharoo, it was not without the approval of Mr. Mehta who is hardly comfortable interacting with the elected representatives or political leaders. In this, they point out that Mr. Mehta had the blessings of the Chief Minister as he was carrying out her agenda in the Corporation. Interestingly, Mr. Mehta, despite being close to Ms. Dikshit, did not approve of this action and was reluctant in relieving Mr. Matharoo from the present posting.

In a clear rebuff to the Delhi Government, Mr. Matharoo has been given a lucrative posting by the MCD Commissioner putting a question mark over the charges of alleged wrong doing being cited by the Delhi Government behind the transfer of this official. It is being argued that if Mr. Matharoo had a poor reputation then why has he been made the Deputy Commissioner of Central Zone, which is considered to be prize posting, and not in a non-sensitive post.

What is even more interesting is that Ms. Dikshit seemed to have been misled on the issue as the Delhi Government did not have the authority to remove him and it could only be done at the Corporation level.

The Delhi Government, it is learnt, was not even in the know that Mr. Matharoo had been absorbed into the Corporation and was no longer under the command of his parent cadre of the Delhi Government. However, what remains a mystery is why the Delhi Government was not informed about the Corporation move to absorb Mr. Matharoo.

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