The Hindu : New Delhi News : Politics of sealing hits Sheila Government hard

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Sunday, Nov 12, 2006
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New Delhi

Politics of sealing hits Sheila Government hard

Sujay Mehdudia

Can badly hit party prospects during the municipal polls

NEW DELHI: The issue of sealing in the Capital during the past fortnight has left the Congress party and the Sheila Dikshit Government's image battered, something that could badly hurt the prospects of the party during the municipal polls scheduled for early next year, according to political observers here. The most outstanding feature of the agitation according to them has been that Ms. Dikshit has become the target of public fury that spilt over to the streets.

Despite the 10-day winter session of the Delhi Assembly taking place when the issue of sealing was at its peak, there was hardly any fruitful discussion on how to deal with the situation and save the party and the Government from further embarrassment. Although the issue of sealing figured prominently in the House proceedings, the opportunity largely was used to settle political scores and take pot shots at the Central Government rather than showing any genuine concern for the traders, say observers.

Interestingly, on November 6 after the Supreme Court verdict came, Mukesh Sharma (Congress) in an attempt to score political mileage moved a resolution, with the consent of the Chief Minister, to adjourn the House so that all the MLAs under Ms. Dikshit's leadership could meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the issue of sealing. However, no mention of this issue was made during the next four days of the session nor did any meeting with Dr. Singh materialise.

The entire session was used by the Chief Minister and her loyalists to take pot shots at the Union Government and Union Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken over the issue of sealing, preparation of the new Master Plan for Delhi-2021 and future planning for Delhi.

For the first time, the debate over a no-confidence motion continued for three days and the Chief Minister's motion under Rule 90 on sealing was also passed knowing very well that the resolution had become redundant in the light of the Supreme Court judgment.

The session was also marked by a confrontation between the Speaker, Chaudhary Prem Singh, and Deputy Speaker Shoaib Iqbal resulting in an unpleasant situation inside and outside the House.

The opposition BJP had little role to play in the proceedings, as the party's members stood expelled from the House for the major part of the session.

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