Truant Cong leaders set to get show cause notice

Two Congress MPs in Delhi may soon get a show cause notice from the party for not taking part in the voting for election of South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s mayor.

Lok Sabha MP Sandeep Dikshit and Rajya Sabha MP Parvez Hashmi failed to vote in the close contest which the opposition Congress lost by one vote.

Sources in the Congress said had the two MPs voted in the election, the party would have also won the mayor’s post along with that of the deputy mayor.

“A report has been prepared against the two MPs’ laxity and very soon they might be issued a show cause notice,” said a Delhi Congress leader, who did not wish to be named.

Sources said both the MPs had been given advance information about the April 30 voting in the municipal corporation’s house but they failed to be part of the exercise.

Dikshit reached the corporation late on the voting day while Hashmi did not turn up. As a result, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate Khushi Ram Chunar became the new mayor.

Khushi Ram got 52 votes out of the total of 104. Congress candidate for the mayor’s post Dharamvir got 51 votes. One vote was invalid.

Party leaders said had the Congress managed to wrest the mayor’s post from the BJP, it would have served as a booster for the party which lost badly in the last Assembly elections in December.

Crucial polls

“The situation in the Assembly is still fluid. There could be a fresh election after the May 16 results of the Lok Sabha polls. The win in south corporation mayor’s poll would have set the mood for future electoral battles in the city,” said a Congress leader.

Singh Lovely for briefing Congress general secretary and incharge of Delhi affairs Shakeel Ahmed. 

Dikshit had claimed that he got late on the voting day due to his wife’s ailment.

The party’s other three MPs Ajay Maken, Ramesh Kumar and Mahabal Mishra had voted in the mayor election.

The Congress won the deputy mayor’s election by 13 votes as there was cross voting in the BJP camp.

The BJP later identified 12 such corporators which did not vote for the official candidate.