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Congress core group meets, backs Dikshit
Anita Katyal
Our Political Correspondent

Janardhan Dwivedi, Cong

New Delhi, August 6
While the BJP is demanding Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s resignation after her government was indicted in the latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for irregularities in the Commonwealth Games, the Congress has decided to ignore these demands.

Standing firmly by Dikshit, the Congress rejected demands for her resignation on the plea that the references to the Delhi Government in the CAG report did not warrant such an extreme step.

“We have not seen the entire report yet. But whatever we have seen, there is no such allegation that should attract such severe action,” Congress media department chief Janardhan Dwivedi said here today.

Dwivedi’s unequivocal defence came shortly after a meeting of the Congress core committee at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s 7, Race Course official residence. The first meeting to be held after Congress president Sonia Gandhi travelled abroad for a surgery is learnt to have discussed the CAG report which has also criticised the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for appointing Suresh Kalmadi as the Organising Committee chief. Kalmadi has been held responsible for wasteful expenditure during the Commonwealth Games by the CAG.

Others who attended today’s meeting included Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A K Antony, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Ahmed Patel, Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary.

The Congress top brass is said to be of view that it should not act in haste as it had done in the case of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who was removed after his name surfaced in the Adarsh Housing Society controversy. In the case of Sheila Dikshit, the party has decided to wait till the CAG report has been duly processed.

Stating that there is a constitutional process to be followed when such reports are tabled in Parliament, Dwivedi said: “The report will go to the Public Accounts Committee, where it will be discussed by representatives of all political parties. Right now there is nothing more on this."

However, the government could face rough weather in Parliament next week if BJP president Nitin Gadkari’s call for Dikshit’s resignation is followed up with disruptions in the two Houses. The BJP is feeling emboldened after it removed B S Yeddyurappa following his indictment by the Lokayukta in his report on illegal mining. Gadkari has been quick to point to the Congress’s double standards as it had demanded the former Karnataka Chief Minister’s removal when the report came out. The Congress will reassess the situation on AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s return to India.