The Hindu : New Delhi News : Sajjan nominated as Rural Development Board chief

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 16, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Sajjan nominated as Rural Development Board chief

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 15. Faced with a tough situation on the political front, the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, has in a surprise move nominated the Outer Delhi Member of Parliament, Sajjan Kumar, as Chairman of the Rural Development Board. The Delhi Government issued a notification to this effect last evening.

Party MLA Jile Singh Chauhan will be the Vice-Chairman of the Board, which will have 18 MLAs as its members.

Mr. Kumar will replace the Development and Cooperatives Minister, Raj Kumar Chauhan, who held the post until now. The appointment of Mr. Kumar is significant from the fact that the Board has an annual budget of nearly Rs. 92 crores for carrying out various development works in the Capital's rural areas.

The new Board has been created on the lines of the Trans-Yamuna Development Board and Mr. Kumar could well have an office for himself in Players Building which houses Delhi Government offices. A lot of political significance is being attached to the appointment of Mr. Kumar to the Board as he had earlier been nominated as Vice-Chairman under Mr. Chauhan. However, it is learnt that he had declined to accept the post and had been pushing for Chairmanship with the Chief Minister. The new-found love between Ms. Dikshit and Mr. Kumar does not come as a surprise as Mr. Kumar had reportedly patched up with Ms. Dikshit before the Lok Sabha polls. The eminent lawyer and Rajya Sabha member, R.K. Anand, is understood to have played a major role in bringing the two together.

Political observers feel that the appointment of Mr. Kumar could be the signal for a new political alignment in the Delhi Congress. It is understood that Mr. Kumar could also play an important role in neutralising the Rohtas Nagar MLA, Rambabu Sharma, who has not been in the best of terms with Ms. Dikshit in the recent past. Both Mr. Kumar and Mr. Sharma are considered close to each other and could play a major role in future political battles. Insiders in Government said that now the focus would be on filling up vacancies in the Boards and Corporations. Mr. Kumar could again play an important role by influencing the Chief Minister. The most important and sought after replacement would be the chairman of the Delhi Agricultural and Marketing Board.

The nomination of Mr. Jile Singh Chauhan as vice-chairman also comes close on his election to the Delhi Development Authority as a member representing the Delhi Government. The growing clout of the Jehangirpuri MLA in his second term could well open the gates for Cabinet reshuffle in the time to come. However, observers feel that by going for the nomination of Mr. Kumar, the Chief Minister could well open up a new front with her rivals not only in the local Congress but also among the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) who seem to have the blessings of the party high command for taking on the Chief Minister.

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