The Hindu : New Delhi News : Bid to open front against Delhi Ministers fails

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Friday, Oct 20, 2006
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New Delhi

Bid to open front against Delhi Ministers fails

Staff Reporter

Only six legislators turned up for the "informal meeting''

NEW DELHI: The "informal meeting'' of loyalist Congress MLAs owing allegiance to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's camp called to launch a "campaign for reshuffle'' in the Delhi Cabinet by removing some old Ministers and inducting new blood came a-cropper as only six legislators turned up, forcing the meeting to be declared a "Diwali Milan'' get-together.

"We are not here to seek any individual's ouster from the Government or the Cabinet. We are here just to review the sealing and demolitions issue and chalk out a strategy to deal with the situation. There are other issues also involved but we will talk about them at an appropriate time,'' said senior Congress legislator Mateen Ahmed.

However, Babarpur MLA Vinay Sharma was more forthcoming and said changes should be undertaken not only in the Government but also in the organisation in Delhi. Asked to elaborate further, Mr. Sharma said it was also time to review the leadership of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, which is in the hands of Ram Babu Sharma. However, the glare of the electronic media forced the legislators to change their stand and they started terming the whole meeting as a "Diwali Milan'' party and an attempt to seek a solution to the sealing issue.

Among the other MLAs who turned up for the meeting were Rajesh Lilothia, Baljore Singh, Kiran Walia and Rajesh Jain. However, disappointment was writ large on the faces of those who reached the venue of the meeting as many of the Chief Minister's loyalists also did not turn up for the meeting.

Surprisingly, the chief sponsors of the move, Jangpura MLA Tarvinder Singh Marwah and Praladh Singh Sawhney, also kept away from the meeting. It is learnt that the meeting was planned to expose the working of the inefficient Ministers and make a demand for a change in the present set up. The view among these legislators was that fresh blood needed to be inducted into the Government in order to give it a new direction, image and vision.

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