Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will be the star campaigner for Congress as it gears up to regain its lost ground in the national Capital. There has been a growing demand in the Congress to bring in former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit as the party’s star campaigner for the upcoming Assembly elections in the national Capital.
The move to draft Dikshit was set in motion after representatives of 35 Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) met senior Congress leader and in charge of Delhi affairs PC Chacko on Saturday. Those from the RWAs impressed upon Chacko that only Dikshit can infuse life in the campaign as she has been the face of development during her 15 years of rule. Congress has been banking on the developmental activities that city witnessed during her Government. Her interface with the RWAs in the form of bhagidari was successful tool to co-opt people’s participation in governance. Chacko on Saturday met Dikshit at her residence and convinced her to lead the party campaign in the upcoming Assembly polls in Delhi after meeting with representatives of RWAs.
later Dikshit made it clear that she was not going to contest the Assembly polls and also don’t want any post. The former Chief Minister also cleared that she would abide by order of the party high command.
Congress MlA from Okhla, Asif Mohd Khan, said there was no leader of her stature in Delhi. “We have told the party leadership that we should contest the poll under her leadership.” It was Khan, who along with some Congress MlAs had recently met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and demanded that the party should go to polls under Dikshit’s leadership. Khan said Dikshit was the party’s most credible face in Delhi. He added: “Her administrative skills played a key role in the overall development of the city. The Congress needs to project the development works that were carried out in the city under her 15-year rule. She changed the face of the city. We need to aggressively convey this to the electorate.”