Ms. Dikshit moves to mend fences

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI, MARCH 19.

Sensing a tough Budget session on hand, the Delhi Chief Minister, Ms. Sheila Dikshit, and her close aides have once again swung into action trying to mend fences, work out patch- ups and formulate a strategy to counter the onslaught of the rebels in the Assembly.

Sources in the party reveal that already behind-the-scenes parleys have been initiated to rope in some rebels and work out a compromise to ensure a smooth session. The Chief Minister, who has little reason to worry as the target is likely to be her Ministers, is trying to ensure that things work out smoothly and the 11-day session does not create any major problem. She is also aware of the resentment prevailing among the MLAs of her own camp. But that is not a major problem as far as the Chief Minister is concerned.

Whatever voices of dissent may have emerged against her among the loyalists have almost been managed. The Nangloi MLA, Dr. P.C. Kaushik, who the other day reportedly wrote a stinker to the Chief Minister, is now back on track. He has expressed full faith in the leadership of Ms. Dikshit and swears by Ms. Sonia Gandhi. The Chief Minister had earlier also handled her people well and was able to beat the dissidents at their own game. In fact, she is said to be least worried on this account.

But this has not deterred loyalist MLAs from holding parleys with rebel leaders. In fact, this is worrying the Chief Minister who wants to stem the rot before it gets too late. It is understood that the Hastsal MLA, Mr.Mukesh Sharma, is emerging as the rallying point of rebels and the loyalists alike. He is learnt to have held parleys with the MLAs of the Sheila Dikshit camp who had sought his cooperation for cornering the Ministers.

Mr.Sharma's great legislative skills are known and he is also well aware of the rules and regulations and the conduct of business of the House. In fact, during the last session, the Chief Minister was able to work out a compromise with Mr. Sharma which saw nearly a record number of 21 of his amendments being carried on a two Government Bills.

Not the one to take chances, Ms. Dikshit is learnt to have established contact with Mr. Sharma after coming back from the AICC plenary session at Bangalore. It is learnt that Mr. Sharma is proposing to bring about major amendments to the Delhi Fire Service Bill, introduced by the Chief Minister during the last session. In addition, he has also given notice for introduction of the Senior Citizens Honour Bill which has since been accepted.

It is believed that Mr. Sharma might be brought around if the Chief Minister agrees to ensure that his Bills will be adopted and passed. Also there is possibility that if his Bill on providing reservation for women, introduced in the last session, is adopted by the Government, he would not make things difficult for the Chief Minister. But Mr. Sharma would also be under tremendous pressure from his camp not to work out any compromise.

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