NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding an acute shortage of drinking water, power cuts, public unrest over demolitions, trade bandh or tense situation arising out of the proposal to seal commercial establishments in residential areas, it is party time for the Delhi Government. Led by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, a huge contingent, including Cabinet Ministers, senior officials and MLAs has left for Melbourne to witness the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.

Unmindful of the code of austerity issued by Congress president Sonia Gandhi for her party functionaries, this huge contingent has gone at the cost of taxpayers' money. This while a team led by Delhi Lieutenant-Governor B. L. Joshi has just returned from Australia after witnessing events at the Commonwealth Games for a week. Delhi Chief Secretary S. Regunathan had also gone on a 10-day visit to Melbourne to assess the infrastructure and preparations of the games despite the fact that he is retiring from service in May this year.

Among others who are already in Melbourne are senior officials of the Delhi Development Authority led by its Vice-Chairman Dinesh Rai besides senior officials of the Urban Development Ministry and those from the Chief Minister's Office. According to sources in the Government, a team of 11 MLAs including two from the opposition BJP have taken off for Melbourne as part of the Delhi contingent.

Incidentally, all the Congress MLAs going for the games belong to the loyalist faction and those who are known dissidents have been left out. Two Ministers -- Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely and Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf -- who are members of the organising committee for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi have also left for Melbourne. It is learnt that the Chief Minister has asked Finance Minister A. K. Walia to cancel his visit plans and take charge here in her absence. Dr. Walia holds the portfolios of Finance, Public Works Department and Urban Development.

"It is a paid holiday for the people's elected representatives. But questions will certainly be raised about the timing of the departure as a large number of problems are facing the Capital's residents and leaving them at this juncture will certainly send a wrong signal,'' a senior Congress leader remarked.

Sources said Civil and Supplies Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan and Industry Minister Mangat Ram Singhal have also been left behind in the Delhi Government. For the next one week, the working of the Government is likely to come to a standstill as the decision makers will be all away.

The selection of MLAs had also led to a lot of heartburn among the Congress legislators with many earlier writing to Mr. Joshi to first finalise the criteria for selection of MLAs for such trips. However, Raj Nivas did not respond to the concerns of the MLAs and gave its consent to the trip by 11MLAs that include former Minister Narendra Nath, Subhash Chopra, Rajesh Lilothia, Kiran Walia, Vinay Sharma, Nasib Singh, Rajesh Jain, Ramesh Lamba, Jagdish Mukhi and Harsh Vardhan.

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