Sonia holds meeting with Dikshit's 'detractors'

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday met "detractors" of Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit as the party leadership continued to grapple with the land scam controversy.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday met "detractors" of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit as the party leadership continued to grapple with the land scam controversy that has seen the CM and her critics at loggerheads.

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Gandhi met Delhi ministers Haroon Yusuf, AK Walia and Arvinder Singh Lovely, whose names have figured in allegations made by pro-Dikshit leaders that a plot was being hatched by her dissidents to topple her with "logistical support" from Ashok Malhotra, the alleged master-mind in the scam.

The meeting with Gandhi came a couple of days after the detractors put their side of the story before AICC General Secretary Ashok Gehlot, who is in-charge of party affairs in Delhi.

It has been alleged that Malhotra, who was arrested by the CBI on Monday, was to fund the anti-Dikshit campaign by providing luxury cars to legislators in lieu of their support to the move.

After the meeting, while the three ministers left without talking to the media, Gehlot said there was no danger either to the Dikshit government or to the party.

"There is no danger to the Delhi government or the Congress. I don't consider this to be of any significance to us," he told reporters when asked about the impact of the scam on Delhi Congress.

He instead sought to train the guns on the BJP by saying that the issue of slums was more important and it should be probed thoroughly. The scam involves fraudulent sale of a large number of plots meant for rehabilitating slum dwellers.