The Hindu : New Delhi News : Congress leaders pin hopes on Rahul Gandhi for a third term

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Monday, Mar 10, 2008
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Congress leaders pin hopes on Rahul Gandhi for a third term

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

‘His coming into the picture would enthuse party workers and woo a lot of youth’

The five main leaders should come together to formulate a plan of action, feel party officials
“Major Income Tax relief in Union Budget
2008-09 has also enhanced party’s prospects”

NEW DELHI: With elections to the Delhi Assembly drawing near, more and more Congress leaders in the Capital are veering to the idea that the party’s Central leadership and in particular Rahul Gandhi, who has been projected as its youth icon, should take the initiative to bring all factions of the party and the Delhi Government together if the party were to give itself a real chance of having a record third term in Delhi.

“It is not that the Delhi Government or the Union Urban Development Ministry has not done enough for the cause of Delhi. The amount of work done in the past four to five years has been enormous and the policies that have been brought in would have a lasting effect on the Capital. But the differences and the clash of egos among various senior leaders has prevented the message from going out to the people,” said a senior party leader.

Workers depressed

Another leader said the party workers were depressed and wary of putting in their resources and efforts at this hour as a victory appears distant. He said the need of the hour was for the party leadership to call all the five of six main leaders from Delhi including Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, DPCC president J.P. Agarwal and Union Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken and the AICC leader in-charge of Delhi unit Ashok Gehlot together for formulating a plan of action for the months ahead.

“Proper review and implementation of a plan of going out to the people with the policies and works would revive the confidence of the cadre and the prospects of the party.”

Sharing the view, a Delhi Minister said “Rahul Gandhi’s coming into the picture at an early stage would enthuse the party leaders and workers alike and woo a lot of youth, who constitute a significant percentage of the electorate. As a united unit, the party can still pose a significant challenge to the BJP and the BSP alike.”

Incidentally, he said, the Union Budget 2008-09 has also enhanced the party’s prospects by giving major Income Tax relief to the salaried class and businessmen. Also, the Minister said while the Delhi Government has defined private land and government land, regularised extended village abadi areas, floated schemes for the rehabilitation of jhuggi dwellers and was on the verge of giving ownership rights to those allotted plots under the 20 point programme. “But there is a need to inform people about all these achievements and not to run each other’s work down,” he said.

A DPCC office-bearer said more than rallies, what the party needs at the moment is to win the confidence of the people by reaching out to them.

“The DPCC president has shown the way by honouring the various block and district leaders and winning their trust. The need of the hour now is for Ms. Dikshit, Mr. Maken and Mr. Aggarwal to leave their egos behind and jointly go out amid the people with the work they have done and the policies they have changed to ensure that Delhi is not uprooted and develops into a well-planned city.”

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