Wary of split talk, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee starts revamp

NEW DELHI: Rattled by speculation that a group of Congress MLAs can break away to help BJP form the government, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee has set out to revamp the party organization, creating space for former ministers and MLAs and overcoming camp rivalries.

A high-powered committee is being made under the leadership of former minister and Laxmi Nagar MLA, Dr AK Walia, to prepare a vision document. The committee will also draft the party manifesto in anticipation of a repoll.

Former ministers and MLAs have got key assignments as conveners of the three member committees for each of the 14 districts. For instance, former assembly speaker Yoganand Shastri is the convener for Chandni Chowk; former west Delhi MP Mahabal Mishra is convener for Krishna Nagar and Congress heavyweight Sajjan Kumar's son Jag Parvesh Kumar is convener for Kirari district. However, none of the six MLAs allegedly in talks with BJP have got any role.

On Saturday, the AICC had met all 70 Congress candidates of the December polls and asked them to reach out to the common man.

On Thursday, the DPCC headquarters was abuzz with speculation about government formation as BJP reiterated that it is keeping its options open. DPCC chief Arvinder Singh, however, refused to be drawn into the controversy saying the party is focusing on rebuilding its organization. Party insiders said the six MLAs under watch have different views on breaking away en masse.

Under existing rules, at least six Congress MLAs will have to leave the party to prevent action under the anti-defection law, and the Congress leadership feels BJP will not be able to engineer this split. All six MLAs maintain that they are with Congress.