Amitabh Shukla
New Delhi, September 8
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit could not manage to get a nod for a Cabinet reshuffle from the party high command but she succeeded in the other alternative to put a stamp on her authority in Delhi government. She managed to get the approval of the party bosses to change the departments of her ministers in view of the Assembly elections next year.
Two of the three ministers who had rebelled against her and approached party President Sonia Gandhi in the wake of the Ashok Malhotra land scam find their wings clipped in the reallocation of the departments. A.K. Walia was stripped of important departments like Urban Development and Public Works Department (PWD) but burdened with Power Department. On the other hand Haroon Yusuf had Power department taken away from him. Instead, he got Food and Civil Supplies. The third minister against Dikshit in the Cabinet, Arvinder Singh Lovely managed to retain his departments. He just lost Art and Culture, considered a minor department which has gone to Dikshit herself.
The only minister who sided with Dikshit in political turbulence following the defeat of the Congress in the MCD elections earlier this year, Raj Kumar Chauhan, has been made all powerful. He gets Urban Development and PWD apart from retaining his old departments. Only Food and Civil Supplies was taken away from him and this is not considered an important department from any standards in the Delhi government. He also retains the post of the Chairman of Rural Development Board.
The remaining two ministers – Mangat Ram Singhal and Yoganand Shastri – who remained neutral in the ongoing saga of political one upmanship in Delhi, managed to retain what they had earlier. Singhal retains Industry and Shastri Health.
This is the first time since December 2003 when the Congress came to power in Delhi for the second consecutive term that a reshuffle has been effected in the portfolios. Interestingly, Dikshit is away in Belaruswhen the official announcement of the changes was made Saturday evening. Shastri too is away in London though he has not been affected in any way.
Some of the ministers are peeved. “Merit and work was not a criteria for the changes. If this were the determining factor such a reshuffle would not have taken place. Moreover, the ministers who have little to show in their term of almost 4 years retain their positions,” said an aggrieved minister, who did not want to be quoted in the surcharged political atmosphere.
Congress leaders here say that Dikshit has managed to “gain” politically in the six month old fracas, at least for now. “J.P. Aggarwal as DPCC President is not antagonistic to her like Ram Babu Sharma and now a change in the departments of her ministers. She seems to have emerged stronger,” said a senior Congress leader.
Reshuffle defeats the rebels
Amitabh Shukla
New Delhi, September 8
The reshuffle of the portfolios in the Delhi Cabinet has come as bolt from the blue, a surprise to the ministers themselves. Privately, they allege that instead of toning the administration in the run-up to the Assembly polls next year, it will further dent the image of the government.
A.K. Walia, the newly appointed Power Minister told HT: “I will ensure that every Delhiite gets 24-hour power supply. This is one of the most important departments and my endeavour would be to solve the grievances of consumers and make the system consumer friendly”.
Walia might be putting a brave face but officials say that he seems to have been wrongly targeted. “Around 25 flyovers, foot over bridges and new roads were commissioned during his tenure as PWD minister. The entire Ring Road has practically become signal free. He had become the symbol of development in Delhi,” said the official. There are 17 ongoing projects and another 10 in the pipeline which Walia had finalised in his tenure. “The fruits of these projects would not be plucked by some other minister,” said a Walia confidante. In his last tenure as minister from 1998 to 2003 , Walia, a doctor by profession, had Health and he had ensured the completion of 12 hospitals and 24-hour medical services in these.
The only silver lining for Walia is the fact that he is the only minister who had a continuos run for almost 9 years like Dikshit. Now he has the experience of most of the departments of Delhi government.
Raj Kumar Chauhan, the new PWD and Urban Development Minister said the CM has reposed faith in him and he would try to prove it in the new departments. “We would give Delhi, all it needs in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games,” said Chauhan. He now has maximum departments in his bag.
Haroon Yusuf too insisted that through Food and Supplies Department, the poor in the city would get their ration in time and transparency would be brought in. “We would ensure streamlining of the distribution mechanism,” he said.
The ministers in their new departments would take charge from Monday onwards. Sources in Delhi Secretariat said the rooms of the ministers would not be changed and they would continue to operate from their offices.
BOX: Recent Points of conflict
Signature Bridge: Finance Minister A.K. Walia did not give his financial approval to the ambitious project despite Dikshit’s interest on the issue. The cost of the bridge to be built at Wazirabad had risen to Rs 993 crore from the sanctioned Rs 459 crore and Walia objected to it.
Drainage at IGI airport: Walia objected here also saying that the airport is in private hands and the Delhi government should not finance the project. The CM wanted the state government to finance the 140 crore project as the Union Civil Aviation Ministry too was pushing for it. Finally a compromise formula was worked out in which different agencies shared the burden.
Ashok Malhotra land scam: Three ministers – Walia, Yusuf and Lovely rushed to complain to Sonia Gandhi on the functioning of the Dikshit government and her alleged “high handedness”. They complained that the Dikshit faction was targeting them instead of tackling the issue of land scam.
KM scheme: Transport Minister wanted the Kilometre scheme to rein in the rampaging Blueline buses. However, Dikshit did not approve of the scheme. She wanted the corporatisation of the bus fleet and saw the KM scheme as a deterrent to her scheme of things.
Transport and Power: Dikshit changed several Transport Commissioners in the last 4 years severely affecting the functional autonomy of Yusuf. Moreover, the powers of the minister in Power Department was curtailed as the bureaucrats were making the decisions and reporting directly to the CM.
Education: Dikshit took pot shots at Lovely in Cabinet meetings and pulled him on occasions.
Shadow Cabinet: Dikshit had promised several MLAs ministerial berths to win their support and trust at the cost of Walia, Lovely and Yusuf. The three ministers felt threatened.
New Delhi, September 8
The reshuffle of the portfolios in the Delhi Cabinet has come as bolt from the blue, a surprise to the ministers themselves. Privately, they allege that instead of toning the administration in the run-up to the Assembly polls next year, it will further dent the image of the government.
A.K. Walia, the newly appointed Power Minister told HT: “I will ensure that every Delhiite gets 24-hour power supply. This is one of the most important departments and my endeavour would be to solve the grievances of consumers and make the system consumer friendly”.
Walia might be putting a brave face but officials say that he seems to have been wrongly targeted. “Around 25 flyovers, foot over bridges and new roads were commissioned during his tenure as PWD minister. The entire Ring Road has practically become signal free. He had become the symbol of development in Delhi,” said the official. There are 17 ongoing projects and another 10 in the pipeline which Walia had finalised in his tenure. “The fruits of these projects would not be plucked by some other minister,” said a Walia confidante. In his last tenure as minister from 1998 to 2003 , Walia, a doctor by profession, had Health and he had ensured the completion of 12 hospitals and 24-hour medical services in these.
The only silver lining for Walia is the fact that he is the only minister who had a continuos run for almost 9 years like Dikshit. Now he has the experience of most of the departments of Delhi government.
Raj Kumar Chauhan, the new PWD and Urban Development Minister said the CM has reposed faith in him and he would try to prove it in the new departments. “We would give Delhi, all it needs in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games,” said Chauhan. He now has maximum departments in his bag.
Haroon Yusuf too insisted that through Food and Supplies Department, the poor in the city would get their ration in time and transparency would be brought in. “We would ensure streamlining of the distribution mechanism,” he said.
The ministers in their new departments would take charge from Monday onwards. Sources in Delhi Secretariat said the rooms of the ministers would not be changed and they would continue to operate from their offices.
BOX: Recent Points of conflict
Signature Bridge: Finance Minister A.K. Walia did not give his financial approval to the ambitious project despite Dikshit’s interest on the issue. The cost of the bridge to be built at Wazirabad had risen to Rs 993 crore from the sanctioned Rs 459 crore and Walia objected to it.
Drainage at IGI airport: Walia objected here also saying that the airport is in private hands and the Delhi government should not finance the project. The CM wanted the state government to finance the 140 crore project as the Union Civil Aviation Ministry too was pushing for it. Finally a compromise formula was worked out in which different agencies shared the burden.
Ashok Malhotra land scam: Three ministers – Walia, Yusuf and Lovely rushed to complain to Sonia Gandhi on the functioning of the Dikshit government and her alleged “high handedness”. They complained that the Dikshit faction was targeting them instead of tackling the issue of land scam.
KM scheme: Transport Minister wanted the Kilometre scheme to rein in the rampaging Blueline buses. However, Dikshit did not approve of the scheme. She wanted the corporatisation of the bus fleet and saw the KM scheme as a deterrent to her scheme of things.
Transport and Power: Dikshit changed several Transport Commissioners in the last 4 years severely affecting the functional autonomy of Yusuf. Moreover, the powers of the minister in Power Department was curtailed as the bureaucrats were making the decisions and reporting directly to the CM.
Education: Dikshit took pot shots at Lovely in Cabinet meetings and pulled him on occasions.
Shadow Cabinet: Dikshit had promised several MLAs ministerial berths to win their support and trust at the cost of Walia, Lovely and Yusuf. The three ministers felt threatened.
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