Common cause — Enemies Tytler, Sajjan Kumar unite against Dikshit

Terming the Chief Minister as “corrupt” and “incompetent”, the Congress leaders and MLAs called for a change, emphasising that “no outsider should be made Chief Minister” and that the person “should be from among the Delhi leaders”. But no names were offered.

The Delhi Congress has been marked by dissidence for over an year and in the last Assembly session, the rebels came out openly against the Chief Minister.

Following this, AICC chief Sonia Gandhi set up a six-member coordination committee led by CWC member Madhavrao Scindia and AICC general secretary Prabha Rao to check dissidence in the party.

The appointment of the committee was perceived by many as a shot in the arm for Dikshit. However, with Sajjan Kumar and Tytler joining the rebel pack, it is obvious that Dikshit faces a tough challenge from within the party.

“Our loyalty is with Sonia,” emphasised Tytler. When asked about the coordination committee, Tytler merely said, “We do not even understand what is it all about.”

“But we want Sheila Diskhit removed. She dosen’t know anything about administration,” he said, accusing her of corruption over issues such as radio taxis, sales tax and the excise policy.

“Delhi is a sober city. But the CM has tried to make it into a pub city with the excise policy. Every house will turn into a bar. The Congress party manifesto does not say anything about promoting liquor,” he said. In the 16 months of Congress rule, the MLAs said that little had been done for the poor.

“We do not have anything personal in this,” Sajjan Kumar said in his turn. From the demolition to unemployment, the Congress government in Delhi has not launched a single programme. “Taking a few legislators, Sheila Dikshit has made a firm out of Congress,” he said, clarifying Tytler’s accusation that Dikshit had divided the city Congress.

Comparing Delhi to the situation in Orissa when J B Patnaik was removed, Sajjan said the CM’s majority was one of 19 chairmen and seven ministers. “The day she became Chief Minister, it was because of the Congress party," said Kumar. He accused her of not doing anything to hold panchayat elections in the city.

Alleging corruption, the former minister said he had knowledge of four “concrete” cases against Dikshit, two of them with documentary evidence. Among them, he also cited denotification of the land for shifting the Indraprastha University.

More than a dozen party MLAs, including Tek Chand Sharma, Malaram Gangwal, Darshana Ram Kumar, Meera Bhardwaj, Surendra Kumar, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Mahender Singh Bhattewala, Mahabal Mishra and Raj Kumar Chauhan, were present along with MCD opposition leader Ram Babu Sharma.

When asked how many MLAs had turned rebels, Tytler said, “The number of legislators does not matter. There are many who support, but have not come here today.”

Bandhu alleged that Dikshit had played into the hands of the BJP and RSS. He said sympathisers of BJP and RSS were still holding important positions within the government set-up.