‘The Tribune-Chatterati’ 29th.March.2010

The roll back on subsidies on to LPG in Delhi has provided some breath of life to the opposition. Having won her third consecutive victory the Sheila Dikshit Government is clearly keen to raise resources. The new budget raises the price of tea, milk and several other items of daily use. This helped the opposition in raising a ruckus over price rise. It claimed that the Delhi Government was unkindly breaking the backs of the public, given the overall inflation situation.
But it looks like Sheila will hold her ground – largely. The government believes that Delhi’s citizens are getting a brand new city almost. Even though its an account of the Common Wealth, several big infrastructure projects, new buses, new metro lines and new airports are suddenly changing the face of central Delhi atleast. The spirited defence of a better city aside Sheila has also taken defence behind the fact that even after the LPG price hike she is still providing it cheaper than the neighboring states. And unfortunately the Congress Government is stable in the centre and the Delhi State as elections are a long time away.
Those in the know believe that Sheila’s strategy of removing general subsidies and replacing them with individualized direct hand outs to the poor is a model that could provide others with inspiration. While these issues get debated the heat in Delhi just got notched up by a degree thanks to the opposition fury in the assembly.