Dikshit gears up to outplay dissidents

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has decided to move on from the debacle of the monsoon session in the Delhi Assembly and has almost finalised the topic for her presentation at the proposed Congress chief ministers' conclave in Chandigarh on October 6-7. Dikshit is planning to showcase the preparedness of Delhi to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

While her own partymen are expecting that Diskhit will be cornered at the conclave for mishandling power and water supply issues in Delhi, the chief minister wants to emphasis on achievements and positive aspects of her government.

Rather than explain her position vis a vis the unbundling of the Delhi Vidyut Board and the performance of private power distribution companies, which saw her being humiliated by a damaging Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report, Dikshit has decided to look to the future.

The commonwealth games preparedness includes an additional Rs 3,000 crore budget sanctioned by the central government, construction of new flyovers, subways and a 40-acre games village on the eastern Yamuna riverbed near the Akshardham Temple.

Delhi is expected to will play host to around 8,500 athletes and officials. Nearly eight-nine plots have been earmarked by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to construct Ashok Yatri Niwas-type budget hotels to accommodate expected sports lovers and tourists.

The attraction of an international look for the national capital, and her administration's preparedness for the 2010 games, which may not see her in the chief minister's chair, will hopefully dent the attack on her leadership at the conclave. The government is also planning to showcase the infrastructure being developed for the 2010 games to make a bid for the 2014 Asian games.

"Dikshit is hoping that the progress made in the construction of the games village and the development of infrastructure will make up for the recent controversies," said a source close to Dikshit.

Dikshit's detractors in the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) have armed themselves with considerable ammunition, including distributing copies of the controversial PAC report on privatisation of power, to take her on during the conclave.

In such a scenario, little wonder that Dikshit wants to play it safe.