The Congress core group on Saturday met to discuss the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report on the Commonwealth Games and its fallout for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and the Congress government in Delhi.
The group, comprising the government and the Congress party, also discussed the strategy to be adopted in Parliament next week, as the Opposition is likely to corner the government on the issue.
While the report has charged Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit with serious procedural lapses, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has been criticised for ignoring suggestions of ministers, including that of Mani Shankar Aiyar, that Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi be replaced.
The meeting is significant, given the absence of UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi due to illness. Prime minister Manmohan Singh, defence minister A K Antony, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, home minister P Chidambaram, and Ahmed Patel attended the meeting.
The Congress party’s defence against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stand, demanding Dikshit’s resignation, will be: There is no similarity between the Adarsh Society scam, in which Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan was asked to step down pending an inquiry, or even the Yeddyurappa case, in which a trust headed by him and his family is believed to have misused public funds, and this case because the CAG has pointed out only at procedural lapses by the chief minister. Also, the matter is to be discussed by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which reviews reports by the CAG.
In its defence, the Congress will cite the issue of procuring coffins for those who died during the Kargil war, which was also inquired into by the CAG. On that occasion, the A B Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government took no action against the then defence minister, George Fernandes, beyond referring the matter to the PAC.
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Also, there is no evidence that Dikshit or her family derived any direct pecuniary advantage from the contracts during the Games, unlike Yeddyurappa who entered into deals to benefit his immediate family. Under these circumstances, the party is likely to back Dikshit. This is also a political necessity, given BJP sees this as a route to come back to power in Delhi.
It is possible had Gandhi been in the saddle, the party’s view on the matter might have been different. However, in her absence, the party would go all out to defend Dikshit, sources said. Rahul Gandhi is likely to return in a few days when the Congress president’s health stabilises. But even after that, she may be out of commission for several weeks, party sources said.