Relief: L-G's gesture stirs a hornet's nest

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI, JAN. 31. A controversy of sorts seems to have been generated over the manner in which Delhi's Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Vijai Kapoor, went ahead and announced various means of raising relief including deduction of money from the MLAs Constituency Development Fund. It is being interpreted as a bid to undermine the authority of an elected government.

Insiders in the Delhi Government said there was resentment among the elected representatives as the Lieutenant-Governor, along with a few officials, discussed and decided how relief, including money, was to be generated in aid of the earthquake victims of Gujarat. Members of the ruling Congress(I) have taken exception to Mr. Kapoor calling a hurried meeting of the Ministers of the Sheila Dixit Government, officials and representatives of political parties and taking decisions which should have been taken and announced by the elected Government.

It was felt that although there was need for prompt action, the manner in which the Lieutenant-Governor showed undue haste in announcing that money from the constituency funds of MLAs would be deducted has raised eyebrows. Congress leaders are also annoyed at the manner in which the Chief Minister, has conducted herself during this whole episode. The Lieutenant-Governor had announced at a Press conference on Monday that he had consulted Mrs. Dixit on ``phone'' and she had approved of them. But all this has not gone down well and only shows the marginalisation of an elected Government at the hands of a constitutional authority.

The issue seems to have also figured at the meeting called this past Tuesday at the AICC(I) by the party president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi. It is learnt that the party leadership has taken a strong exception to the way all decisions were taken and announced by the Lieutenant-Governor. It was pointed out that any such initiative should have been taken by the elected Government and not the Lieutenant-Governor. ``In fact, during the super cyclone in Orissa, the Lieutenant-Governor did not show any such enthusiasm. But here he took the initiative as Gujarat is a BJP ruled State,'' a senior Minister remarked.

Not only this, the Ministers in the Sheila Dixit Cabinet are also unhappy with the Chief Minister for not opposing such a move or see it as another attempt to subvert the authority of the people's government. ``There is no doubt that the relief should have been organised without any political considerations. But Raj Niwas should have avoided it and left it to the Delhi government to sort out the situation as it had handled the Orissa cyclone very efficiently,'' another Minister stated.

It is also learnt that the DPCC(I) has pointed out to the party leadership that it was not taken into confidence by the Delhi Government while deciding on various relief measures. In fact, it is understood that the Delhi Assembly Speaker, Chaudhary Prem Singh, had conveyed to Mr. Kapoor on Monday that in order to mobilise funds, Rs. 10 lakhs each should be deducted from the MLAs fund. But the same had not found favour with the Lieutenant- Governor. Surprisingly, later in the day, he announced the same deductions.

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