The Hindu : Advantage Congress

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 06, 2003

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Advantage Congress

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI JAN. 5. It was supposed to be a keen battle. A trial of strength which would give a certain moral advantage. The two main political parties -- the Congress and the BJP -- held simultaneous rallies in East Delhi to highlight the role of their respective governments in bringing true the dream of Metro Rail in Delhi. But the Congress rally was a clear winner with the BJP coming a poor second.

While the Congress rally was held at Gandhinagar, the BJP rally was held at Sonia Vihar under the leadership of the local MLA, Sahib Singh Chauhan. The Congress certainly seems to have taken the lead and the upper hand in this political battle of wits. The massive attendance at the Congress rally and the poor gathering at the BJP rally was a clear indicator of what was preferred by the people of East Delhi. Although, this cannot certainly be termed as final trial of strength, but the Congress clearly gained the advantage which it will seek to drive home by organising such rallies in the coming days.

The Congress, through its main star speaker, Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, ably supported by the Transport Minister, Ajay Maken and the DPCC president, Subhash Chopra, put across the point that the Metro Rail project was being politicised by the BJP and the Sheila Dikshit Government had given a big impetus to it after coming to power in 1998. The role of the Delhi BJP president, Madan Lal Khurana, in sabotaging the Metro Rail project after becoming the Chief Minister in 1993 and his preference for High Speed Tram is proving to be a big handicap for the BJP. The party, despite putting up the best of defence, has not been able to convince the people that Mr. Khurana's intentions were not wrong.

In fact, the continued politicisation of the project and the appointment of Mr. Khurana as DMRC Chairman has also not gone down well with the masses who feel that this could hamper the progress of the project which had been working professionally and executed clinically in the absence of any political interference.

On the other hand, the BJP rally at Sonia Vihar, attended among others by the Delhi BJP president, Madan Lal Khurana, and the Leader of the Opposition, Jagdish Mukhi, was not a grand affair and the mobilisation was not proper. The rally sought to drive home the point that the Metro Rail dream had come true because of the special interest taken by the Central Government and the continued funding provided by it. In fact, Mr. Khurana said it was during his tenure that the DMRC was formed and he had been instrumental in reviving the project. He termed as wrong and baseless the Congress charge that he had tried to scuttle the project and said he had got various reports prepared on it and ensured that it took off.

The Leader of the Opposition, Jagdish Mukhi, charged the Sheila Dikshit Government with failure on all fronts and claimed that it was due to the pressure by the BJP which had ensured that Metro Rail got cheap power which in turn reduced the price of the tickets. But clearly this effort at sending across the BJP point of view was not enough and it would take something bigger and bolder than this if the BJP has to reach out to the masses.

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