M A I N   N E W S

Cong MLAs rush to Delhi
To meet Vajpayee today
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 2
Most of the Congress MLAs from Punjab rushed to Delhi today. There are two reasons for their visit to the national capital. The first task is to lobby for a berth in the Punjab Council of Ministers (COMs) which, according to Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, will be expanded soon. There are about 12 MLAs in the race for berths in the ministry.

Capt Amarinder Singh will also be in Delhi for a few days from tomorrow. Besides his official engagements, he is to meet Mrs Sonia Gandhi, President of the AICC.

Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, a senior Congress minister, is also in Delhi. She has already met Mrs Ambika Soni, Mr Moti Lal Vora and other senior leaders of the party. She is also to meet Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Besides discussing various political issues, she has also discussed the functioning of the government in the state with senior leaders, according to informed sources. According to sources, she will also try for the inclusion of certain MLAs in the ministry.

Meanwhile, informed sources said two or three new faces would join the ministry. The party high command is of the view that the size of the ministry should be kept small as the state has been facing a financial crisis.

The second mission of these MLAs is to meet Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to request him not to send the NDA team to Punjab to have first-hand information on the law and order situation, besides the implication of certain Akali leaders in alleged false cases.

Congress and Independent MLAs from the state will meet the Prime Minister at his residence tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Led by Mr Birdevinder Singh, General Secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee and senior legislator, the MLAs would not only oppose the decision of sending an NDA team to the state in response to the demand made by the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) chief, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, but also impress upon the Prime Minister that such a step would tantamount to “interference of the Central Government in state affairs”.

“Law and order is a state subject,” said Mr Birdevinder Singh, maintaining that the visit of any Central team would send “wrong signals” in different directions.

“It will not only strain Centre-state relations but will also lead to multiplicity of unforeseen problems. It will also give conflicting signals to political leaders and workers of the state,” said Mr Birdevinder Singh.

Expressing the hope that the Prime Minister would give them a proper hearing, he said no elected government worth its salt would ever appreciate any “interference” from the Centre.

In case the Akalis have any grouse, they have democratic and legal channels open to them to seek redressal of their grievances.

The SAD-BJP alliance, on the other hand, is still not certain as to when the NDA team will visit Punjab. To counter this move, the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, had written letters to Editors of various newspapers to send their teams for independent investigation about the working of any department of the Punjab Government.

Some of the Congress MLAs felt that the Centre instead of agreeing to an NDA team should have promised to send an all-party team to look into complaints of political vendetta against both Akali and BJP leaders and workers in the state.