The Hindu : New Delhi News : Ram Babu Sharma reappointed as Delhi PCC president

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Friday, Jul 01, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Ram Babu Sharma reappointed as Delhi PCC president

Sujay Mehdudia

AICC is yet to announce the names of delegates from Capital

NEW DELHI: Putting an end to days of suspense, the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, on Thursday re-appointed Ram Babu Sharma as the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president. His re-nomination is being seen as a clear-cut sign from the party high command that it wants to balance the power centre in Delhi.

Appointed DPCC president for the first time on November 5 last year, Mr. Sharma has made things difficult for the Chief Minister by maintaining that the party was supreme and not the Government. Mr. Sharma was at the centre-stage of the infamous walkout by the Chief Minister from the executive committee meeting of the party that led to a crisis-like situation for Ms. Dikshit. The matter was settled after the intervention of Ms. Gandhi and appointment of a Coordination Committee for Delhi.

Rising from a booth worker in 1971, Mr. Sharma, a protégé of former Delhi strongman, H.K.L. Bhagat, has held several positions before reaching this position. He was elected to the Delhi Assembly for the first time during the 2003 polls from Rohtas Nagar. Earlier he twice successfully contested the civic polls from Nand Nagri and rose to became the Leader of the House and Chairman of the Standing Committee in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Incidentally, the Chief Minister had a few months ago projected former Minister Narendra Nath as her choice as the DPCC president but the high command showed no interest and opted for Mr. Sharma, a known rival of Ms. Dikshit.

With Mr. Sharma being re-nominated for a second tenure, things could get a bit hot for the Chief Minister. Now Mr. Sharma would have to re-constitute the party set-up in Delhi and the old body will stand dissolved.

Presently on a pilgrimage to Shirdi in Maharashtra, Mr. Sharma will return early next week to formally take charge for the second time as a full-time DPCC president. The All-India Congress Committee is yet to announce the names of the AICC delegates from Delhi and that is expected to come with the announcement of a new body. Sources in the party said that now that Mr. Sharma has got an official stamp of approval, the first meeting of the Coordination Committee could also be expected any time and a number of decisions pending with regard to the appointments to be made to various corporations and boards would also come up for discussion.

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