Sheila Dikshit to be Delhi CM
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, Nov 30 - Mrs Sheila Dikshit (60) will be the new Chief Minister of Delhi. She was nominated by the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, after the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Delhi unanimously resolved to authorise the Congress President to nominate its leader.

The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President and MLA from the Gole Market assembly constituency, Mrs Dikshit, will be the second woman Chief Minister of Delhi.

The resolution moved by former Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Prem Singh and adopted by the CLP which met here this evening at the Akbar Road headquarters of the central party office, stated: "We, the members of the CLP, unanimously urge the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi to choose the CLP leader and whosoever she chooses would be the leader of the CLP and would be acceptable to us."

The meeting was presided by CWC member Arjun Singh and was attended by general secretaries Oscar Fernandes and R K Dhawan and former leader of the CLP Jag Pravesh Chandra. Mr Chandra who did not contest this time, was the CLP leader in the outgoing assembly.

Mrs Sheila Dikshit expressed her gratitude to the people of Delhi for placing their faith in the party and Mrs Sonia Gandhi for leading the party to power.

The Congress won 51 of the 69 seats for which elections were held with its main rival BJP getting only 15 seats. Polling in one constituency, Nangloi Jat, was postponed due to the killing of Samata Party candidate Ved Singh.

Two Congress rebels, who contested as Independents, were also elected to the Delhi assembly while one seat went to the Janata Dal.

Ms Dikshit took over the reins of the DPCC in June this year. She defeated BJP’s sitting MLA Kirti Azad to wrest the prestigious Gole Market seat.

Ms Dikshit, a former Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, is the daughter-in-law of freedom fighter and former Governor Umashankar Dikshit. She was born and brought up in the Capital.

Supporters of the Congress are jubilant after their victory at the hustings. The anti-incumbency factor coupled with the spiralling prices of essential goods are said to be main reasons for the Congress success in Delhi.

The party leadership is reportedly planning to give adequate representation to various minority groups in the city.

The party MLAs are now calculating their chances for ministerial berths. Soon after the results were declared the MLAs began lobbying for the same. Mrs Sheila Dikshit will have her hands full in trying to ensure that the exercise is undertaken without treading on too many toes.

Digvijay likely choice as MP CM

BHOPAL, Nov 30 (UNI) — Having led the party to victory in the elections against heavy odds, Chief Minister Digvijay Singh is likely to be re-elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Madhya Pradesh.

The newly-elected 173 Congress MLAs have been asked to reach the state Capital for the CLP meeting scheduled for tomorrow.

Senior party leader Pranab Mukherjee and AICC General Secretary Tariq Anwar will attend the meeting as central observers, AICC Secretary Ramesh Chennithala said today.

Notwithstanding the reported statements of some leaders that there would be no "automatic choice" for the leadership of the CLP, state Congress committee sources said Mr Digvijay Singh would be the "natural choice" to head the next Congress Government.

Besides earning the credit for retaining power in the state by neutralising the anti-incumbency factor, Mr Singh has the backing of almost all the newly-elected legislators, the sources claimed.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi's statement that Mr Singh was the only leader who continuously maintained that the party would retain power, also gave an indication of the party high command's inclination to retain him. He had called on Mrs Gandhi at New Delhi.

Congress sources said senior party leader and former Union Minister Kamal Nath, who played a crucial role in Mr Singh’s election as CLP leader in December 1993, was supporting him this time also. Mr Nath’s supporters had retained all eight seats falling in his Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency as also in some of the neighbouring constituencies.

Most of the newly-elected legislators, who had already reached the state Capital, called on the Chief Minister and MPCC President Mrs Urmila Singh and congratulated them for the party’s victory.

In the November 25 elections, even the traditional BJP strongholds of Madhya Bharat and Mahakaushal regions crumbled while and the Congress was successful in keeping intact its citadel of Chhatisgarh. The BJP had high stakes in Chhatisgarh as it felt that the Vajpayee government’s move to carve out a new state would pay rich dividends at the hustings.

Among the 46 members of the Digvijay Singh Cabinet who contested the elections, 32 won while 14 failed to retain their seats.

According to Congress leaders, the strategy of introducing new faces in the elections and holding of panchayat elections for empowerment of people at the grassroots level were among the major factors that influenced the poll outcome.

Why Cong favoured Rule 193
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 30 — In a last-minute change of strategy, the Congress decided to press for a debate on the sharp rise in prices of essential commodities instead of moving an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha today.

The Congress Party in Parliament (CPP) had prepared to give a notice seeking adjournment under Rule 184 which would entail voting at the end of the debate, but this morning it abandoned the plan in favour of discussion under Rule 193 which concludes with a reply by the Government without division.

The party changed its strategy after a meeting of the CPP Executive this morning with its leader, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, in the chair.

She suggested that the Congress should go in for a discussion under Rule 193. Subsequently, as soon as the House assembled for the day, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Sharad Pawar, sought suspension of question hour to take up the pressing matter.

Party sources said the CPP was ready with the required motion seeking adjournment on the opening day of the winter session of Parliament and eventually altered its stance.

The party leadership calculated that in the event of pressing for a debate under Rule 184, the Vajpayee government would have to go for voting and if the Opposition failed to censure the government, the latter would be at an advantage.

The party had thought by moving the motion requiring voting, the Government would have to acknowledge it had mismanaged the price issue and also that the BJP’s allies may not stand by the leading party in the coalition.

The Congress leadership thought an adjournment motion would not only be a good strategy to put the government on the defensive but would drive a wedge between the BJP and some of its allies.

It may be recalled that parties like the Trinamool Congress and the Samata Party have been vocal in their criticism of the government regarding the soaring prices.

By moving the adjournment motion, the party thought it could prevent a no-confidence motion by any other Opposition party.

However, this strategy was revised as it was felt that such a move would allow the BJP and its allies to close ranks, irrespective of their internal differences, and vote for the government.

The vote would also strengthen the Vajpayee government claim that it continued to enjoy the trust of the House.

The Congress spokesman, Mr Ajit Jogi, said the CPP had decided to raise the issue of price rise in an "effective manner in Parliament’’ and said it would continue to do so.

Mr Jogi said the leader of the Opposition, Mr Pawar had given a notice to the Speaker requesting suspension of question hour to take up discussion on the issue. Since the House was adjourned today this could not be done.

"The Congress will continue to raise the issue in the most effective manner as we wish to expose the nexus that exists between the central government, profiteers, blackmarketeers and hoarders and those who indulged in adulteration,’’ Mr Jogi said.

To a question as to what would the Congress stand be on the demand of the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal seeking resignation of the Prime Minister, the spokesman said the Congress would not take the initiative to destabilise or topple the government.