It's just a few months to go for Delhi Assembly elections and Friday saw the long-awaited Delhi Pradesh Congress executive body has finally come into existence after seven years in limbo.
Aimed at appeasing all sections of society, particularly the caste combinations, the executive committee has been packed with followers of Delhi Congress president Jai Prakash Agarwal, while Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's followers are in less. On paper, it appears to be a balancing act but it could lead to groupism and factionalism. There is considerable heartburn among those who have been left out.
Manifesto and publicity committees have been set up under the leadership of Agarwal. Dikshit as ex-officio member and several Delhi Ministers and senior leaders are members. Most galling is the fact that a majority of vice- presidents and general secretaries are rootless wonders, who come and occupy office at DPCC Bhavan on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, an insider quipped.
The Delhi Congress executive committee was last constituted in September 2006 by its then president Ram Babu Sharma. Its main function is to assist the Pradesh Congress office. Congress sources told The Pioneer that the executive committee appears sub-standard and comprises of politically insignificant members. Efforts have been made to appease some whose presence can hardly make any difference.
There are only four former MlAs who have been given a place. An unknown face, Sunil Anand, considered close to Agarwal, has been made treasurer of Delhi Congress," a source added.
AICC general secretaries Ajay Maken and Janardan Dwivedi; Union Ministers Kapil Sibal and Krishna Tirath; Delhi MPs Karan Singh, Sandip Dikshit, Mahabal Mishra and Ramesh Kumar as also senior leaders Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler, Subhash Chopra, Prem Singh and JK Jain are permanent invitees to the 23-member executive.
The 10-member manifesto committee also has Kiran Walia, Ramakant Goswami, Arvinder Singh lovely (all Ministers), along with Vishwabhandu Gupta, Dhirendra Tyagi, Suresh Malik, Abhijit Singh Gulati, Mukesh Goyal, Farhad Suri and Varyam Kaur. The publicity committee includes Rajkumar Chauhan, JK Jain, Karan Singh, Anil Bhardwaj, Devendra Yadav, Abhishek Dutt, Amrita Dhawan, Sanjay Puri, Brahma Yadav and Alok Sharma.
Pradip Sharma, Naresh Kumar Neetu, Mehmood Zia, OP Bhiduri and Jitender Kochar are among the 14 general secretaries of Delhi Congress. Ashok Kumar Jain, Rajendra Mallick, Anjali Rai, Tarif Singh and Chattar Singh are among the 12 vice-presidents while TC Rao, Tulsiram Sablania, Kiran Kapoor, OP Goyel and PK Mishra are members.