Congress dissidents marking time

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI, DEC. 4.

Adopting a wait-and-watch policy, dissidents in the Delhi unit of the Congress (I) have decided to be low for some time and wait for an opportune moment to strike at the Chief Minister, Ms. Sheila Dixit, and her supporters.

Having gained an upper hand in the organisational elections, the dissident leaders do not want to rush things and create an impression that they were after the Chief Minister. ``We have decided to remain dormant. The performance of the Sheila Dixit Government is already under scrutiny of the party high command. There is nothing much to write about in the past two years and the leadership is aware of it,'' said a senior dissident leader.

In fact, their strategy was clearly reflected in the recent session of the Delhi Assembly where, unlike earlier occasions, they made no attempt to embarrass the Government or the Chief Minister. They distanced themselves even from the maverick Congress(I) MLA, Mr. Jagdish Anand, who had filed a case in the Lokayukta against the Chief Minister. The dissidents did not come to his rescue when he was prevented from speaking by the loyalists.

Even the known dissident MLA, Mr. Mukesh Sharma, did not create any trouble. To be sure, the Government more than obliged Mr. Sharma by accepting his various amendments relating to different Bills, giving rise to speculations of a possible patch up between the Chief Minister and him. But this has been stoutly denied by both. Mr. Sharma might have been able to make his presence felt, by putting in some hard work but he cannot afford to join hands with the Chief Minister at this stage. His agenda is totally different.

However, insiders reveal that it was all part of the strategy chalked out by the so-called ``Chanakya'' of Delhi politics, Mr. Sajjan Kumar, to show clearly to the leadership that they were working in coordination with the Government and creating no obstacles. ``These theories of Mr. Mukesh Sharma falling in line are baseless. He is too smart a leader to be lured by the talk of giving him some position. His past postures and the capacity to raise an embarrassing issue any time does not make it possible for him to join ranks with the Chief Minister,'' said a senior MLA.

It is learnt that re-alignment of forces within the dissident ranks is also taking place fast. It is no secret that the dissidents have always viewed each others movements with suspicion. Matters seem to have soured between some big leaders including Mr. Jagdish Tytler and Mr. Sajjan Kumar. Both want to dominate the local unit of the party to have control over the functioning of the Government. Also, they are lobbying hard for having their own man at the helm in event of any possible change in leadership.

All this does not seem to be going down well with the young leaders who feel that it was time to project a new leader to lure the youth back. ``This process of rehabilitation should come to an end and discredited leaders, who have no stakes as far as the party is concerned, should be shown the door,'' remarked a young MLA.

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