The Hindu : New Delhi News : PCC polls run into rough weather

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 18, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

PCC polls run into rough weather

Staff Reporter

Infighting hits finalisation of list of delegates

NEW DELHI: Finalisation of the list of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates has run into rough weather in view of the bitter battle being witnessed among various leaders of the Congress party in Delhi for securing control of the party in their respective areas. A tentative list prepared and submitted to the Pradesh Returning Officer (PRO), Mahesh Joshi, has been virtually "scrapped", setting in motion the process for preparing a new list with drastic changes.

The acrimony and infighting being witnessed between the Members of Parliament, the local MLAs and leaders in the various areas in the ongoing organisational polls has made the whole exercise complicated. It is learnt that all the District Returning Officers (DROs) had been asked to prepare the list and submit it to the PRO for approval two days ago. However, due to continued infighting and strong differences over the names, a number of DROs, including that of Malviya Nagar, Babarpur and Krishna Nagar could not submit their lists on time.

Interestingly, in a departure from the past, the party legislators are going to form a major chunk of the PCC delegates list, a move being termed as a calculated attempt by the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president, Ram Babu Sharma, to keep the MLAs in good humour. Also, this time round, a total of 140 delegates would be nominated or elected instead of 89 in the past.

Fierce battle

The Malviya Nagar and Tilak Nagar districts of South Delhi are witnessing a fierce battle between the Kalkaji legislator, Subhash Chopra, and his bitter rival and Member of Parliament, R. K. Anand.

It is learnt that Mr. Anand had refused to give any concession to Mr. Chopra and sought to load his own supporters as delegates. However, Mr. Chopra resisted this and is understood to have petitioned senior AICC leaders as well as the party leadership thereby managing to stall the final list for his district.

It is understood that Mr. Sharma is of the view that Mr. Chopra should be accommodated and no attempt should be made to marginalise him or his supporters.

Another important player who has managed to squeeze in his supporters as PCC delegates from South district is the Sikh leader, Ajit Chadha. In the Outer Delhi constituency, Sajjan Kumar continues to hold sway as also Ajay Maken in the New Delhi Parliamentary constituency and his home ground, Rajouri Garden.

It is learnt that Mr. Joshi had a long meeting with Mr. Sharma on Tuesday to discuss the lists submitted to him by the DROs. However, Mr. Sharma is understood to have differed with the various names and sought an overhauling of all the lists.

Mr. Sharma has already held consultations on the issue with the Members of Parliament from Delhi and has obliged them by allowing them enough leverage to work out the lists.

In East Delhi, Mr. Sharma is in no mood to oblige the Member of Parliament from the area, Sandeep Dikshit, and this has also caused problems in preparation of the final list.

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