The Hindu : 'Councillor's arrest damages party image'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 12, 2003

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Other States - New Delhi

'Councillor's arrest damages party image'

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI APRIL 11. It could not have come at a worse time. When everything was going fine for the Congress-led Government as well as the party in New Delhi, the embarrassing arrest of the R.K. Puram Councillor, Hiren Tokas, allegedly while accepting bribe has exposed the decay that has set in in the MCD and especially among Congress Councillors. The incident has damaged the image of the party and once again raised serious questions over the quality of nominations and the process adopted for selecting candidates.

Sources in the party and the Government have expressed shock over the incident and there have been calls for putting the Councillors on leash before they wreak havoc and cause irreparable damage to the party in the forthcoming Delhi Assembly elections. The conduct of the Councillors has become a cause for serious concern for the Congress but the lack of will on part of the party high command and those in charge of Delhi affairs to crack the whip and set the house in order has resulted in deterioration of the situation. It is common knowledge that many Congress Councillors during the past year have gone on the rampage and have been linked with criminal and corrupt activities.

What is even worse is that the list of tainted Councillors is slowly and steadily getting longer. Be it the Sharda Jain episode involving the murder of a fellow Councillor, Atma Ram Gupta, the case of forgery by another party Councillor, Sunita Bharti, involvement of some relatives of the Model Town Councillor in alleged tender mafia scam or the corrupt practices of the R.K. Puram Councillor, things are going from bad to worse, creating a serious situation for the party. "The Councillors are slowly showing their true colours. They are now trying to recover the money they had invested to secure party nominations or contest elections. They are going to hurt the cause of the party seriously and this has to be stopped,'' a senior Minister remarked.

But what has surprised all is the continued silence of the party leadership over the unscrupulous activities of the Councillors. Despite repeated cases of corruption coming to notice from time to time, the Congress high command has not acted against this increasing indiscipline and corruption within the party at the civic unit level. "Instead of pointing a finger at the Sheila Dikshit Government for under performance, these so-called senior party leaders should rather concentrate their energy on putting the Councillors under control and send out a stern warning," another party leader said.

The party MLAs are once again demanding setting clear guidelines and code of conduct for the Councillors. Many MLAs said it was not the BJP they fear in the elections but the activities of their own party Councillors.

``The general sentiment is in favour of the Sheila Dikshit Government. There is no negative feeling among the electorate presently against the Congress Government. But the party's chances could be spoiled by the unruly conduct of the Congress Councillors, who apart from being involved in various nefarious activities, are also in the running for the party nomination for the Assembly polls. This could set in motion an unhealthy competition and create a lot of bad blood. A clear declaration needs to be made that no Councillor would be given party ticket,'' a party MLA stated.

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