Months after being brought back to lead the Delhi Congress during Lok Sabha elections, veteran leader Sheila Dikshit’s powers were curtailed on Wednesday citing her health, capping months of infighting in the unit.
“As you are not keeping well, the three working presidents in the state will work independently and report to you the decisions taken,” Delhi Congress in-charge PC Chacko wrote to Dikshit.
Chacko also wrote to the three working presidents -- Haroon Yusuf, Rajesh Lilothia and Devendra Yadav -- directing them to monitor the functioning of the party in their respective areas, hold neetings of district committees and chalk out the organisational programmes.
The move comes after months of confrontation between Dikshit, Chacko and three working presidents of the party. Dikshit and Chacko share an uneasy equation and things came to a head when Dikshit, a three-time chief minister of Delhi, dissolved the committees based on a report submitted by a five-member panel formed to assess the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, where Congress failed to get a single seat. The block committees were elected last year when former union minister Ajay Maken was heading the Delhi Congress.
Chacko ‘stayed’ dissolution of the committees and forwarded copies of his order to Congress president Rahul Gandhi as well as Dikshit. “As a DPCC chief, one is not expected to behave so irresponsibly. The block presidents are elected leaders in the party and dissolution of these committees cannot be done without taking into consideration the working presidents,” he said.
Despite this, Dikshit went ahead and appointed new observers for 280 block Congress committees. Chacko shot off a letter to her saying: “I am sorry to say that a senior leader of your status should not have flouted AICC rules by taking a decision leading to unrest and differences in the party. I have received numerous complaints from block presidents, DPCC presidents and working presidents against the action under your signature.”
The three working presidents had also written to Dikshit alleging that ‘unilateral decisions’ were taken on the matter without informing them.
“The PCC was designed to work under your leadership along with the three working presidents and it was intended to take collective decision in consultation with each other for strengthening the Congress party in Delhi. It is saddening that all the decisions taken in the past were unilateral without even informing us,” the letter read.
First Published: Jul 17, 2019 15:23 IST
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