System to track requests by legislators put in place
Recently, the state government’s decision has sparked a debate on the mandatory saving of the number of elected representatives to bureaucrats. On one hand, leaders claimed that officials were not returning their calls, therefore issues in their areas remained unaddressed. However, sources said that the leaders call them more for their own work rather than the public’s. In this cycle of accusations and counter-accusations, sources associated with the Gandhinagar Secretariat are now saying the government has set up a system to track what kind of work is requested by elected representatives. They claimed a system has also been put up to create a full report on work recommended by representatives.
Discontent in state unit of Congress over list
Discontent among Gujarat Congress leaders has deepened. The party revealed a working committee list a few days ago wherein three Gujarat politicians were included. Deepak Babria in charge of Delhi, Lalji Desai of the Congress Seva Dal, and former Gujarat Congress President Jagdish Thakor were among those chosen. According to a senior Congress leader, “No one in the party was surprised by the two names, but Thakor, under whose leadership the Gujarat Congress performed the worst, coming down from 70 seats in Gujarat to 17 seats in his leadership, has surprised many.”
AAP officeholder resigns, joins Congress
Amid speculation over an alliance between the AAP and the Congress in Gujarat, the AAP leader in Gujarat Bhemabhai Chaudhary resigned as vice-president of the State unit and joined the Congress alongside his supporters and local leaders. Chaudhary had been with the AAP since its inception on the condition of anonymity Congress leader said “I don’t know who forced the AAP president in Gujarat to announce Congress and AAP will contest upcoming Loksbha elections in alliance, but the way AAP leaders are joining the Congress, there are clear indications from the state.”
Dilip Singh Kshatriya
Our correspondent in Gujarat
dilipsingh@newindianexpress.com