Delhi Cong: Lovely not lovely enough, old guard want Sheila Dikshit back

New Delhi: The Congress may be loathe to admitting the real reasons for their rout in Delhi and then across the country, but it has to accept the fact that it cannot hope to get into the revival mode without the help of the old guard. Nothing symbolises it better than two Congress MLAs asking for status quo to be restored in Delhi. Seelampur MLA Mateen Ahmed and Okhla MLA Mohd Asif met Congress President Sonia Gandhi this Tuesday seeking that former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, Governor of Kerala now, be brought back to Delhi politics along with Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar.

Even though Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely has been pretty active, carrying out protests across the city on current issues like lack of power, water and rising prices, he has been unable to carry the senior leadership with him. He may be dynamic, but his supporters have become arrogant which has led to the second rung leadership feeling sidelined. “These two MLA’s are seen as traditional supporters of Sheila Dikshit,” says a senior leader on condition of anonymity. “They are upset with the current dispensation and are no longer in the mood to see Lovely at the helm,” he observes.

While there is no doubt that development work did happen during Sheila’s 15-year stint in Delhi, the other lesser known fact is that she was an adept politician. Despite all the differences with senior leaders like Jagdish Tytler and former DPCC president JP Agarwal, she managed to keep the flock together with blessings from the high command. The current power crisis has again pushed the focus back on the former Delhi chief minister for her skillful handling of the situation.

“The truth is the Congress had managed to provide stable power supply for the past 15 years,” said Lovely, adding “the BJP and the AAP have been indulging in blame game without actually doing anything about the crisis.”

But this sudden move by the MLAs has taken the party high command by surprise. The party is desperately trying to get rid of the “loyalty over merit” tag and infuse fresh blood into the organisation. Such a demand will only strengthen the case of the old guard who still look at party vice president Rahul Gandhi with apprehension, especially after his intention to democratise the party structure at 24 Akbar Road.

Just a few days ago, reports of resentment within the party and a few MLAs being in talks with Opposition was doing the rounds. Elections in Delhi are a certainty now and the party lacks united leadership to bring all factions together. “We want Rahul Gandhi to lead the party,” Jagdish Tytler had said earlier. “As seniors, I am ready to help the party and guide the youngsters,” he added.

The other pressing issue within the state unit is the seniority factor. Lovely being made Delhi Congress chief didn’t go down too well with many leaders. Most of the party MLAs like Mateen Ahmad, Prahlad Singh Sawhney, Hasan Ahmad and Haroon Yusuf consider Lovely as their junior in the field of politics. Former Union Minister Ajay Maken was in line to be the successor of Sheila Dikshit, but a loss in 2014 general election from New Delhi seat has put him on the back foot.

Getting a senior leader to lead the party will make it easier for them and others to fall in line. “There is complete unity within Delhi Congress, you are free to speculate,” says Sandeep Dikshit, former East Delhi MP and son of Sheila Dikshit. “There is no doubt Congress had handled most of the crisis situations in Delhi better than what AAP and BJP have done. But I cannot speak for her (Sheila) about what are her future plans.”

While the BJP struggles to find a credible face for their party in Delhi, the AAP is trying to compensate the trust deficit factor for running away from governance as Arvind Kejriwal resigned after 49 days in power. This would put the Congress in a better situation to exploit burning issues like BJP’s failure to rein in price rise, shortage of power and water in the raging heat, but the lack of united leadership is hurting the party. Indications are that Sheila is unlikely to jump into the current political scenario as of now in Delhi.

“After the party’s humiliating defeat in the state last year, she doesn’t appear keen to go back to electoral politics,” says a close aide of Sheila Dikshit. “She will not resign as Governor unless forced to, and is unlikely to decide her course of action in a hurry.” But with power demand in the national capital breaking all records this summer by touching an all-time high of 5810 MW a day, it is time the Congress pulled out its tried and tested card.