The Hindu : National : Demolitions: Delhi Congress joins hands with BJP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 27, 2006
ePaper

National

National

Demolitions: Delhi Congress joins hands with BJP

Sujay Mehdudia

Extends support to bandh call given by Confederation of All-India Traders

NEW DELHI: Strange as it may sound the local Congress unit and the Bharatiya Janata Party have joined hands to agitate against the Congress-led Delhi and Central Governments.

The action of the Delhi Congress indicates the desperation prevailing within the party and its confused approach in dealing with a serious situation, which involves the displacement and livelihood of lakhs of people.

Eyebrows have been raised over the reported decision of the Congress to support the three-day Delhi bandh call given by the Confederation of All-India Traders (CAIT) and the manner in which it has tried to deal with the issue of sealing and demolitions in the capital.

Bandh called

The bandh has been called to protest the failure of the Delhi Government and the Centre to come out with a relief package for the lakhs of traders, particularly the 45,000-odd traders who face sealing from November 1.

The CAIT is dominated by supporters of the saffron party and the bandh has the BJP's complete backing.

"The party should not be seen supporting a cause that is promoted by BJP or its supporters. It will prove to be disastrous for the party and we should not have supported the call for the bandh against our own Government," a senior Congress leader said.

Instead of approaching its own Government at the Centre or party president Sonia Gandhi to plead the case of relief, the Congress delegation, led by Delhi unit president Ram Babu Sharma and some MPs, met the Monitoring Committee on Wednesday and Lieutenant Governor B.L. Joshi on Thursday.

Mr. Sharma is scheduled to meet Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit late this evening at her residence despite the decision of the party coordination committee, headed by AICC general secretary Ashok Gehlot, to do everything possible to provide relief to the traders. Constitution amendment was one of the options.

Mr. Sharma said by opting to support the bandh, he was giving support to the cause of traders, their families and lakhs of workers, who stood to lose their livelihood due to sealing and demolitions.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National