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Sparks all set to fly at Congress Coordination Panel meet today

Sujay Mehdudia

Latest increase in power, water tariffs likely to dominate proceedings

NEW DELHI: Sparks are expected to fly at the meeting of the Coordination Committee to be held on Saturday evening at the All-India Congress Committee headquarters here. Apart from the latest increase in the water and power tariffs, issues like marginalisation of the people's elected representatives, break-up of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, and over-dominance of the bureaucracy over the political leadership is likely to figure in the meeting.

The Coordination Committee is headed by the AICC general secretary in charge of Delhi affairs, Ashok Gehlot, and has as members Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, DPCC president Ram Babu Sharma, Member of Parliament Ajay Maken, Delhi Ministers A. K. Walia and Raj Kumar Chauhan, and Minto Road MLA Tajdar Babar.

It is understood that Ms. Dikshit would come under attack for taking unilateral decisions on various issues and by-passing the Coordination Committee specially constituted by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, to discuss important decisions within the party forum before they are implemented. It is learnt that Mr. Sharma would raise the issue of failure to consult the party on the issue of power tariff hike. Insiders in the party informed that the stand adopted by the Delhi Government that the power hike had the approval of the Congress high command was also wrong and baseless. The Congress president at no point had given her the nod for the hike as the matter had not even reached her.

Sources said the power hike issue was discussed with the political secretary to the Congress president, Ahmed Patel, who is understood to have conveyed to Ms. Dikshit during her meeting that the party high command had no role to play in this affair as no such consideration had been undertaken in the past. Ms. Dikshit was reportedly asked to submit a note on the power hike for consideration of the Congress president which she eventually did not send and instead announced the hike.

On the other hand, the privatisation of the power sector and the probe by the Central Vigilance Commission into the 140 MGD Sonia Vihar water treatment plant is also likely to figure prominently during the meeting. In addition to this, the mishandling of the relocation of the industry issue and the failure of the Government to protect the interests of lakhs of workers and owners is also going to dominate the proceedings.

In addition, the appointments to various boards and corporations including the recent appointment of Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee chairman, J.K. Bansal, is going to figure prominently during the talks.

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