The Hindu : New Delhi News : New quartet emerges in Delhi

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Saturday, Feb 12, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

New quartet emerges in Delhi

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI, FEB. 11. In the changing political equations within the Delhi Congress and the Delhi Government, a new entrant but a political veteran has made his way into the core `Team Delhi' led by the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit. The Member of Parliament from Outer Delhi, Sajjan Kumar, is suddenly the new favourite of Ms. Dikshit along with the Finance Minister, A.K. Walia, and the Chief Secretary, S. Regunathan.

Although officially `Team Delhi' is headed by Ms. Dikshit and comprises her Council of Ministers, in view of the marginalisation of the Ministers in the present scheme of things it is this `quartet' that is running the show and influencing major decisions in the Government. Mr. Kumar seems to have taken over the role of the former Delhi Transport Minister and now Member of Parliament from New Delhi, Ajay Maken, in working out the political strategies of Ms. Dikshit. It is another matter that those who fought against Mr. Kumar during all these years at the instance of the Chief Minister have now been dropped. A recent case in point is Chaudhary Mukhtiar Singh, an arch-rival of Mr. Kumar, who was removed as Chairman of the Delhi Agriculture Marketing Board reportedly at the instance of Mr. Kumar.

It is no secret that Ms. Dikshit had a long running battle with Mr. Kumar during the past almost five years and a compromise was reached only before the Lok Sabha polls. Political observers find the issue very intriguing and full of contradictions. There is no doubt that Mr. Kumar is very close to the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president, Ram Babu Sharma, who in turn is a bitter rival of the Chief Minister. The close proximity of Mr. Kumar with both Ms. Dikshit and Mr. Sharma has tongues wagging with loyalists and dissidents doubting the real intentions of Mr. Kumar's actions. "There is no doubt that Mr.Kumar enjoys a cosy relationship with Dr. Walia and his coming together with Ms. Dikshit was meant to project himself as the saviour. Mr. Kumar also needs the support of the Chief Minister as he could get entangled in the Nanavati Commission report whenever it is made public. His proximity with Mr. Ram Babu Sharma is well known -- they both chalk out strategies sitting together with the eye on the future. If this does not wake up the Chief Minister then nobody is to be blamed,'' a senior party leader remarked.

In recent days, Mr. Kumar, who is also the chairman of the Rural Development Board, has gone out of the way to project Ms. Dikshit and even held a "Mahapanchayat'' to give her credit for waiving off the house tax for residential rural areas. It is another matter that the "Mahapanchayat'' was hardly a show with little presence of the rural audience. It is well known that the Delhi Government was forced into waiving off the house tax after the opposition made a big issue out of it during the winter session of the Vidhan Sabha. Be it doling out concessions to the rural areas or working out a deal for the illegal dairies sprouting in the Capital or even closure of industrial units, both Mr. Kumar and Ms. Dikshit have been complementing each other. The Food and Supplies Minister, Raj Kumar Chauhan, has been acting like a bridge between the two and is part of the inner circle of the Chief Minister now. The Chief Secretary is just following the direction of his Chief Minister and is constantly heard praising Dr. Walia and Mr. Chauhan.

Sources in the party informed that this changing equation and the new alignments had been brought to the notice of the various AICC leaders who are watching the Delhi developments with keen interest. However, the dissidents are `confident' that Mr. Kumar is just buying time, getting things done his way and having his own men installed in some boards and corporations before he walks out on the Chief Minister as he did in the past.

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