NEW DELHI: The faction-ridden Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party, playing its old familiar role of "loyal Opposition'' to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, has once again come to the rescue of her Government over the contentious issue of sealing and demolitions in the Capital.

Its proposal to bring up a no-confidence motion on the first day of the Delhi Assembly session beginning on Monday has come in for flak from within the party as it is being seen as an attempt by some BJP leaders to bail out the Chief Minister on this crucial issue by totally diverting the focus of the debate.

The Chief Minister had already given a notice under Rule 90 for introducing a resolution on the issue but the move had come under fire within her party and from the Central leadership. The resolution was seen as an attempt by Ms. Dikshit to put the entire blame on the Union Government for all that has gone wrong and also to duck any criticism of her Government for having failed to take necessary steps to address the issue at an earlier stage.

The decision of the Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Jagdish Mukhi, now to bring up a no-confidence motion knowing very well the fate of such a move has rattled even the ruling Congress party legislators. The BJP has 20 members in the House compared to 47 of the Congress and it does even enjoy the support of the Independents or the lone Nationalist Congress Party member, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, for such a move. The issue has once again brought into focus the charge often levelled against Mr. Mukhi and some BJP leaders in the Assembly of acting as a "loyal Opposition'' always willing to rescue the Chief Minister when she is in trouble.

Mr. Mukhi's move comes at a time when the Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan is out of town attending to his son in a Chennai hospital where he had met with a serious accident.

It is learnt that a number of BJP MLAs opposed the move to bring up the no-confidence motion because they felt that the ruling party should be put in the dock over the issue of bringing a resolution against its own Government at the Centre. "Mr. Mukhi was furious and particularly targeted MLAs like Harsharan Singh Balli, Vijay Jolly, Ramesh Bidhuri and Kulwant Rana and even warned that disciplinary action would be taken against them if they did not follow what he was doing. He claimed that he had obtained permission of the party high command to bring the no-confidence motion but had nothing concrete to offer in support of his contention. The party is playing into the hands of the Chief Minister and all this is very unfortunate,'' said a BJP legislator.

Several BJP leaders felt that at a time when the Opposition should have put the Government on the mat over the issue of sealing and demolitions and not allowed the Assembly proceedings to go on till they got a concrete assurance, the decision to bring the no-confidence motion was totally misplaced. It is clear that with the BJP giving notice for this motion the Chief Minister's resolution will stand postponed and the Opposition motion will be taken up for discussion on the first day of the session by suspending all other business.

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