The Hindu : New Delhi News : Congress MLAs up in arms against bureaucracy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 25, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Congress MLAs up in arms against bureaucracy

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI, OCT. 24. As the temperature within the ruling Congress party rises over "mishandling" of various issues, the dominance of the bureaucracy is fast turning into a big issue among the Congress legislators and leaders in Delhi.

The most recent example is the issue of closure of industrial units in the Capital. No doubt the matter is under the close scrutiny of the Supreme Court, but the manner in which an elected Government handled the whole issue has raised many questions. The conduct of the Industry Minister, Mangat Ram Singhal, in this whole episode has been less political and more official giving an indication of how the diktats of the bureaucracy had even affected some Ministers of the Sheila Dikshit Cabinet. Not only Mr. Singhal, even the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, has been made to take a stand that political observers feel could harm the party badly in any future battle.

Interestingly, the Delhi Cabinet had deliberated upon the issue of closure and on the need to assuage the hurt feelings of lakhs of affected people. It is learnt that the more sane elements within the Cabinet including the Urban Development Minister, A.K. Walia, the Transport Minister, Haroon Yusuf, and the Education Minister, Arvinder Singh Lovely, had sought adoption of a more rational and politically sound approach to diffuse the crisis. However, it is learnt that they were overruled by the Chief Secretary, S. Regunathan, and his team of senior officials in view of the support they got from Ms. Dikshit.

Ms. Dikshit `announcement' that industries will close as per Apex Court directions was in total contrast to her stand on such issues in the past. Observers say that not only was the statement "politically incorrect" but went against the stand of the Congress party on the issue in the past. It may be recalled that Ms. Dikshit had even threatened to disobey the court orders in the case of implementation of the CNG programme for Delhi in the "interest" of the people. "The Chief Minister is an elected representative and for political reasons should not have made such a sweeping statement on closure of units. The matter could have been handled in a better way with political considerations but the "babudom" managed to prevail over the political leadership," a senior Minister remarked.

Interestingly, resentment is brewing within the ruling Congress MLAs against the over-dominating role of the bureaucrats in the administration. This time round the Delhi Chief Secretary seems to be in the eye of storm and could son become a rallying point for the realignment of political equations within the ruling Congress. "No doubt Mr. Reghunathan is an honest person and a man of integrity but his administrative capabilities are questionable. Look at the posting and transfer of senior officials. Many of the able officers have been sidelined and relegated to irrelevant posts and the non-performing ones are getting plum postings. The holding of additional charge of various departments by a number of senior officials is a poor reflection on the performance of the Chief Secretary and his team," a senior IAS official stated.

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