Scindia united fractious Delhi Cong

new delhi: madhavrao scindia is remembered by the delhi pradesh congress committee as a leader who achieved the impossible. as chairman of the congress co-ordination committee he was able to quell dissidence in large measure, thereby harmonising the relationship between the city government and the party. amid rumours of a change in leadership and the height of dissident activities in the delhi unit, scindia took up the reins last year. "the grievance redressal system he introduced was quite popular. being a large party, we had our own share of complaints and grievances. with scindia around, we had a forum to express our problems. he was the only one we could count on," parliamentary secretary ajay maken remembered. in a faction-ridden city congress, scindia was acceptable to all groups. although his direct involvement in party affairs was limited to co-ordination committee meetings, he was often approached by senior local leaders to sort out political differences with other groups. senior leaders say that he not only placated dissidents, but also helped chief minister sheila dikshit to consolidate her political base. "till last year, there were rumours that dikshit would be removed. but these rumours were effectively crushed by scindia, who was seen as a representative of congress president sonia gandhi," said a senior leader. dpcc president subhash chopra said scindia played a key role in refurbishing the image of the party. "he was so widely respected that even the opposition parties did not hesitate in acknowledging his wisdom," chopra said.