The Hindu : Front Page : Sonia warns Sheila, Ram Babu: Mend your ways or face action

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 11, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Sonia warns Sheila, Ram Babu: Mend your ways or face action

Sujay Mehdudia

CM told to convene Legislature Party meeting; PCC chief directed to ensure harmony within party

MOOD OF THE DAY: Delhi PCC president Ram Babu Sharma (middle) has a word with Union Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken (left) while Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit looks away at a function in the Capital on Friday.

NEW DELHI: Aghast at the public warfare and turmoil within the Delhi unit of the Congress over the past few weeks and months, party president Sonia Gandhi is understood to have issued a "stern warning'' on Friday to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and DPCC president Ram Babu Sharma to mend their ways or face the wrath of the leadership.

Pressing issues

Ms. Dikshit was also directed to summon a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party to discuss the pressing issues of power, water and demolition of illegal and unauthorised properties in the Capital.

Both Ms. Dikshit and Mr. Sharma were summoned by Ms. Gandhi on Friday morning and reportedly "reprimanded" in the presence of her political secretary Ahmed Patel and the party general secretary in charge of Delhi affairs, Ashok Gehlot, for indulging in a public spat hurting the image of the party as well as the Government.

`Serious note'

It is learnt that the Congress president had taken a "serious note'' of the ongoing tussle between the party and the Government and decided to intervene in the matter. Mr. Gehlot had briefed her beforehand about the issues facing Delhi. It is learnt that the party high command did not rule out a leadership change if things do not improve in the near future.

Ms. Gandhi was also upset that despite the appointment of a Coordination Committee, matters were being raised from public platforms. Similarly, on the issue of demolition of illegal properties, a "serious view'' was taken of the statements given by the Chief Minister in public despite the constitution of a Core Group to sort out the issue.

"When the Coordination Committee and Core Group are functioning, then what is the need to rake up issues of bringing down illegal structures and those belonging to political leaders and the elite? This matter should have been discussed and resolved within this Core Group, the Congress president felt,'' a senior party leader disclosed after the meeting.

It is learnt that Ms. Dikshit was also asked not to avoid CLP meetings and immediately convene a meeting of the party legislators to discuss important issues like power, water and demolitions as was being demanded by the party MLAs.

Sharma's charge

It is learnt that during the two-hour-long meeting, Mr. Ram Babu Sharma informed the party president that Ms. Dikshit had falsely claimed that she had got the approval of the party high command for power and water tariff increases, a contention that was supported by a senior party leader.

It is learnt that Mr. Sharma also raked up the issue of a Central Vigilance Commission probe into "the multi-crore smart card scam", and indictment of the Sheila Dikshit Government by the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) and the Public Accounts Committee of the Delhi Vidhan Sabha on the issue of power privatisation.

CM's charge

For her part, Ms. Dikshit is believed to have informed Ms. Gandhi that ever since Mr. Sharma became DPCC president he had made things very difficult for her.

She said Mr. Sharma had been fuelling dissidence within the party and provoking situations by instigating MLAs.

Both Ms. Dikshit and Mr. Sharma were thereafter asked to work in coordination and ensure that the party's policies and programmes are implemented in complete harmony.

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