The Hindu : 'Young brigade' disappoints in MCD session

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 13, 2003

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'Young brigade' disappoints in MCD session

By Lalit K. Jha

NEW DELHI FEB. 12. Lacklustre debates by the "young brigade'', an ineffective opposition set-up coupled with the continued strong control of the Leader of House, Ram Babu Sharma, over his members dominated the marathon budget session of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi House which also saw sycophancy at its best both among the ruling Congress and the Opposition BJP Councillors.

More disappointing was the performance of the young brigade, particularly the first timers, who in their speeches concentrated on praising the party leaders and passing critical remarks -- often unparliamentary -- against those of the rival party. Development and progress of the city and welfare of its citizens, for which they were selected by their parties and elected by the people did not figure at all in their scheme of things, except for a few.

While the well-educated Congress Councillor from Nizamuddin, Farhad Suri, who has a public school background spoke on issues like Pokhran, Kashmir, and the Lahore bus journey of the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and took a dig at the criminal background of other BJP leaders, the Sewa Nagar Councillor, Niraj Basoya, a leader of the National Students Union of India was more a nuisance in the MCD House during the budget session along with Khazan Singh, the party Councillor from Usmanpur. The same was the case with Hiren Tokas, who represents R. K. Puram and is a Congress Sewa Dal worker who topped the list of sycophants.

The performance of the BJP Councillors was not better. Ravi Bansal from Shahdara displayed a poster in the House which pointed to the involvement of two senior Congress leaders in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

However, there were silver linings too like the former Delhi University Student's Union president, Neetu Verma, who spoke to the point and was one of the few Councillors who made sense. Ms. Verma -- elected from Civil Lines -- spoke on population control and AIDS. The same was the case with the Chandni Chowk Councillor, Braj Mohan Sharma, who confined his speech to the budget. Although he diverted a bit, the Bijwasan BJP Councillor, Ram Niwas Pehalwan, spoke on the neglect of rural areas. The Councillors from the rural areas were a more disciplined lot. The independent Councillor from Alipur, Aruna, openly expressed her anguish on the indisciplined behaviour of her colleagues in the House. "Why can't we concentrate on the task assigned to us by the people of the Capital,'' she asked.

The budget session also brought out the sensitivity of the Mayor, Jaishree Panwar, who rushed to Nigambodh Ghat and to a MCD store amid the session to have first-hand experience of the poor state of affairs at these places.

The six days of the marathon budget session also indicated that Mr. Sharma was in full control of this huge flock, a tough task indeed given that the Congress party Councillors are an undisciplined lot. The Opposition BJP, however, was not able to capitalise on the time provided by the Congress. The Leader of the Opposition, Subhash Arya, made valuable observations in his speeches but he was not assertive and convincing enough. By putting the Congress on the defensive through their aggressive speeches, two senior BJP Councillors, Vijender Kumar from Rohini, and Arti Mehra from Gulmohar Park, performed according to their reputation. While Ms. Mehra raised the issue of non-distribution of jerseys to municipal students, Mr. Kumar pointed to the lacunae in the budget creating an embarrassing situation for the Congress.

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