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Rift between two groups of senior Congress Councillors widens

Staff Reporter

Mayor Farhad Suri is pitted against Standing Committee Chairman J. K. Sharma Interestingly, even the BJP is divided between the Mayor and the group led by Mr. Sharma

NEW DELHI: The rift between two groups of senior Congress Councillors in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is widening with Mayor Farhad Suri pitted against Standing Committee Chairman J. K. Sharma and Leader of House Jitender Kochar. In the latest episode, Mr. Sharma cancelled the leave sanctioned to Municipal Secretary Meera Akolia by Mr. Suri after the Standing Committee members termed it as an infringement on its powers and rights.

At the last Standing Committee meeting, a proposal to sanction 15-day leave of Ms. Akolia, who had visited the U.S. in June this year after getting permission from the Mayor, had come for approval. But the Standing Committee members objected that the Mayor was not the sanctioning authority and Ms. Akolia should have got her leave sanctioned by the Committee or from Mr. Sharma. The proposal was rejected, putting a break-in-service for that period in Ms. Akolia's record. This is seen as an unprecedented step in the civic body.

Action against Ms. Akolia has roots in an ongoing controversy between the Mayor and the Standing Committee member Brij Mohan Sharma against whom Mr. Suri has complained to the Delhi Congress chief Ram Babu Sharma in a case relating to disappearance of some important official papers.

Ms. Akolia had reported this matter to the Mayor who subsequently ordered an inquiry into it.

Yet another issue is related to action against Additional Commissioner Raj Mohan Singh who had a spat with the Standing Committee members at a meeting held last month. Interestingly, even the BJP is divided between the Mayor and the group led by Mr. Sharma and Mr. Kochar.

One such incident is related to the nomination of Councillors to the Delimitation Commission where the Mayor cancelled the names of the Councillors, including that of a BJP member in the Standing Committee, sent in his absence and instead dispatched a fresh list of those Councillors who are close to him, including another senior BJP Councillor.

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