Chandigarh Congress war of attrition intensifies

By Rajesh Ahuja

CHANDIGARH, JULY 5. The war of attrition in the Chandigarh unit of the Congress further intensified today with the party expelling the former Chandigarh Youth Congress President, Mr. Vijay Pal Singh Dimpy, for six years. Mr. Dimpy is a well-known associate of the former Union Minister and AICC member, Mr. Harmohan Dhawan, who has already been served with a show-cause notice charging him with `anti-party' activities.

According to political observers the expulsion of Mr. Dimpy has not come as a surprise as the dominant groups in the CTCC owing allegiance to the local MP, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal, and the former Union Minister, Mr. Venod Sharma,had virtually launched a `jehad' to oust Mr. Dhawan and his men from the party on one ground or the other including the formation of a `non-political' Chandigarh Vikas Manch.

Only recently, four close supporters of Mr. Dhawan, including three former senior office-bearers of the CTCC, were initially suspended and later expelled from the party. A clear-cut message was sought to be conveyed to Mr. Dhawan that he should voluntarily quit or face further ``humiliation'' including expulsion.

However, according to Mr. Sandeep Singh, one of the expelled office-bearers and now a close associate of Mr. Dhawan, there was no justification whatsoever in the demand by the dominant groups for Mr. Dhawan to resign as it was well-known to all and sundry that he had played a major role in the victory of the Congress in the last Lok Sabha elections especially in the context of the defeat of the party nominees in the Northern region.It was up to the powers that be to take whatever action against Mr. Dhawan, he added.

He further argued that several old and senior Congressmen with over 15 to 20 years' service to the party had been compelled to join hands with Mr. Dhawan after they had to face `humiliation' on several occasions or when they raised pertinent questions about the direction in which the local unit was going especially the decision to contest the Mayoral election in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation with only five party Councillors in a House of 29.

Justifying the formation of the `apolitical' Chandigarh Vikas Manch by Mr. Dhawan after the Congress lost face in the public over the failure of the Mayor to manage and run the House, another leader asserted that Mr. Dhawan had played a positive role in resolving the impasse which should have been performed by the Congress leaders and the local MP.

He asserted that Mr. Dhawan was a mass leader in his own right and the overwhelming response to the Manch clearly proved that `such punitive actions by the Congress' would not deter the spirit of the workers who were prepared for a fight against both the BJP and the Congress. It was a foregone conclusion that Mr. Dhawan too would be expelled from the Congress in the coming days but he would not move the doors of the party satraps but seek mandate from the public.

Mr. Dimpy's expulsion order was issued by the CTCC chief, Mr. B. B. Bahl.

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