Congress appoints AICC secy as poll observer

GURGAON: Division in the Congress camp just three days ahead of the rescheduled Mayor’s election has led to intense competition among Independent candidates for the top post. The troubled Congress party, which had earlier claimed to have support of majority of Independents, has now appointed an AICC secretary as observer. Sources close to the developments said that the arrival of an AICC secretary for local civic polls reflected that the high command is keeping a close watch on the developments and “may not have liked” the manner in which the local leadership has handled the affairs so far.Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh has already openly criticised the government’s move to defer the swearing-in ceremony of councillors and election of Mayor. Senior party leaders said that chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the local MP are at loggerheads ever since the Congress government in state was pulled up by a city court for ‘delaying’ the democratic process. On the other hand, opposition parties are hoping to take advantage of the divide within the Congress ranks. As a result, Independents are in high demand. Manyof them are eyeing nothing less than the Mayor’s seat. There are alsoreports of some Independents coming together and putting forward theirconditions, making the negotiation tough for the Congress as well as theOpposition. Rajender Yadav, an independent candidate from ward-26 said, “Local MLAs have been directed by the CM to build consensus on who they want for the top post. With no consensus emerging, now the party may have to come forward and support a candidate.” Seema Pahuja, Independent councillor from ward-1, said, “Nothing has come out of day-long meetings. All problems within the party have to br resolved first.”Meanwhile, Nisha Singh, who had appealed against the government’ decision in a local court said: “I was hopeful of getting a copy of Thursday’s court order early on Friday morning so that I could go to Chandigarh and appeal against it. However, I got the copy only in the afternoon. Now, I can file the appeal before the vacation Bench only on Monday.”She added she would go to the High Court to set a right precedent. “The ruling party in the state can’t stage manage local elections,” she added. Meanwhile, Mission Gurgaon Development, a city-based think-tank, has appealed to citizens to express their protest against the ‘unconstitutional manner’ in which the Mayor’s elections are being conducted.